A Life's Work: Fathers and Sons

A Life's Work is the latest book from the Bradlee/Quinn family and I absolutely loved it! I have read all of the books that this family has written together or individually and I always find them to be honest, humorous, and insightful. I love the fact that Sally Quinn admits that Ben was always regarded as a "superstar" and that having Quinn really made him grow as a person. I know that Sally Quinn has always been controversial; especially now with the Vanity Fair article about her difficulties with Ben's two other sons, but I have always admired her honesty about herself, Ben, and Quinn. A Life's Work lets the reader enter an extremely private world told by the three main characters. Ben, Sally, and Quinn are a real family. They are a team. And they are all amazing writers.

I was ready to dislike this book because it was written by Washington insiders with the ability to get it promoted not on merit, but simply by using contacts with other Washington insider friends. However, I found this to be a very interesting book about a loving, caring family. Without getting mushy and falling all over each other, former Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee, his wife and newspaper columnist Sally Quinn and their amazing son, Quinn, who has been able to overcome a severe learning disability and congenital health issues, have joined together to write an extremely insightful, entertaining book. It's touching to read how a successful, powerful father was able to bond so closely with a son born late in his life with a number of problems that would challenge this well-connected family. It would have been easy for Bradlee to immerse himself in work and leave the everyday problems faced by his son to his wife to deal with. But Bradlee, who contracted polio as a child and recovered almost completely, was able to grow close to his child by including him in something they could both enjoy. This otherwise intensely cerebral father found both he and his son loved working together clearing brush and cutting trees in the woodlands of their rural home. This activity became not only a learning experience where father was able to pass along to his son important life lessons, but where a son was able to educate his father into a world he otherwise would have never known or appreciated. It's a fast, enjoyable read.