Joe Biden: American Dreamer

(Paperback)

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A concise, brilliant and trenchant examination of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his lifelong quest for the presidency Former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr. has been called both the luckiest man and the unluckiest fortunate to have sustained a fifty-year political career that reached the White House, but also marked by deep personal losses that he has suffered. Yet even as Bidens life has been shaped by drama, it has also been powered by a willingness, rare at the top ranks of politics, to confront his shortcomings, errors and reversals of fortune. His trials have forged in him a deep empathy for others in hardship an essential quality as he addresses a nation at its most dire hour in decades. Blending up-close journalism and broader context, Evan Osnos illuminates Bidens life and captures the characters and meaning of an extraordinary presidential election. He draws on lengthy interviews with Biden and on revealing conversations with more than a hundred others, including President Barack Obama, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and a range of progressive activists, advisers, opponents, and Biden family members. In this nuanced portrait, Biden emerges as flawed, yet resolute, and tempered by the flame of tragedy a man who just may be uncannily suited for his moment in history.

Reviews

Treads back along the trail of horrendous tragedies, dashed hopes and dramatic implosions that preceded Bidens improbable third run at the presidency . . . It is impossible to come away from Osnoss biography without a sense of awe at what Biden has overcome to arrive at this point . . . Osnos has written a fast-paced biography that draws on extensive interviews with his subject, as well as with Obama and a host of Democratic party heavyweights * Guardian *
Theres just something about Joe, as this short biography from New Yorker writer Evan Osnos illustrates. At 77, Biden has overcome unimaginable tribulation, multiple presidential primary humiliations, a potentially crippling speech impediment and his own mediocrity. Now he carries the hopes of billions upon his shoulders . . . Eloquent and well-informed * Sunday Times *
What kind of president would Biden make Osnos, who has been writing about Biden for years for the New Yorker, believes he could be more radical in office than people who have tracked his career might believe . . . [A] beautifully written short volume * Financial Times *
Reveals Bidens flaws but also the compassion and courage needed to start Americas healing process * Observer *
Beautifully written . . . A light, enjoyable read . . . Osnos gives you a taste of what could be to come under a Biden presidency He has a delightful turn of phrase * Telegraph *
A timely and stylish work at a key juncture in US history . . . This book tries to get behind Joe Biden the person to analyse Joe Biden the politician . . . [It] is strongest on Bidens relationship with Obama, where the author draws on interviews he conducted with both men when they were in the White House . . . As Osnos moves to Bidens most recent political chapter, his analysis of how a Biden presidency might work is fascinating . . . Osnoss fluid style, access to Biden, and insightful analysis makes it a worthwhile and eminently readable portrait * Irish Times *
Brimming with insights . . . A richly detailed profile . . . Osnos an award-winning journalist spoke with more than 100 people in Bidens orbit and interviewed the former senator four times . . . The overarching image Osnos presents is that of a veteran American legislator whose moment has finally, and improbably, arrived * Herald *
A pithy and succinct biography * The Times *
Evan Osnos is an immensely talented reporter . . . Joe Biden ably takes the measure of the man and the politician * Washington Post *
Gives the low-down on the new leader of the free world. Everything about Biden is refreshing after Trump * Daily Express *

Author Bio

Evan Osnos has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since 2008. His most recent book, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, won the National Book Award, among other honours. Previously he reported from China, Iraq and elsewhere for the Chicago Tribune, where he shared a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. He lives with his wife and children in Washington, DC.