Promises to Keep (Biden book)
Contents. Biden begins by recounting his life growing up in a Roman Catholic family in Scranton, Pennsylvania and later Wilmington, Delaware. He details the 1972 car accident that killed his wife Neilia and their one-year-old daughter Naomi, and the struggles he faced in its aftermath. He then writes about the second chance he was given upon meeting Jill Jacobs in 1975, as he began his career representing Delaware in the U.S. Senate. The book also explores his beleaguered 1988 presidential campaign, during which he suffered from two brain aneurysms, and the physical and  political recovery he later made. Cultural reference. The title of the book was inspired by Robert Frost's 1922 poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Reception. "The Christian Science Monitor" praised the book saying "Biden is a master storyteller and has stories worth telling." Likewise, "The New York Times" called it "a compelling personal story", while "Salon" commended Biden's response to tragedy as "both admirable and likable".