| Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction | 
 enlarge | Author: David Sheff
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  96 reviews
Sales Rank: 292
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 326
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0618683356
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.299
EAN: 9780618683352
ASIN: 0618683356
Publication Date: February 26, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Amazon Best of the Month, February 2008: From as early as grade school, the world seemed to be on Nic Sheff's string. Bright and athletic, he excelled in any setting and appeared destined for greatness. Yet as childhood exuberance faded into teenage angst, the precocious boy found himself going down a much different path. Seduced by the illicit world of drugs and alcohol, he quickly found himself caught in the clutches of addiction. Beautiful Boy is Nic's story, but from the perspective of his father, David. Achingly honest, it chronicles the betrayal, pain, and terrifying question marks that haunt the loved ones of an addict. Many respond to addiction with a painful oath of silence, but David Sheff opens up personal wounds to reinforce that it is a disease, and must be treated as such. Most importantly, his journey provides those in similar situations with a commodity that they can never lose: hope --Dave Callanan
Product Description
Sheff s story is a first: a teenager s addiction from the parent s point of view a real-time chronicle of the shocking descent into substance abuse and the gradual emergence into hope. Before meth, Sheff s son Nic was a varsity athlete, honor student, and award-winning journalist. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who stole money from his eight-year-old brother and lived on the streets. With haunting candor, Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs, the denial (by both child and parents), the three A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? the police? the hospital?), the attempts at rehab, and, at last, the way past addiction. He shows us that, whatever an addict s fate, the rest of the family must care for each other too, lest they become addicted to addiction. Meth is the fastest-growing drug in the United States, as well as the most addictive and the most dangerous wreaking permanent brain damage faster than any other readily available drug. It has invaded every region and demographic in America. This book is the first that treats meth and its impact in depth. But it is not just about meth. Nic s addiction has wrought the same damage that any addiction will wreak. His story, and his father s, are those of any family that contains an addict and one in three American families does.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 91 more reviews...
 Great read! July 3, 2008
David Sheff helps others learn a lesson it took him years, and a brain bleed, to learn. That lesson is that if you let him, the addict in your family will take down everyone in his path in order to continue to experience the pleasure of his high.
It's a heartbreaking journey, but at the end of the book, the son is clean, at the expense of the rest of the family. But the father has decided not to let his son rob the life from him, his wife, and other two children any longer. This seems even more important than the son's sobriety, as the rest of the family can be saved, and the son's life seems uncertain.
Very good... July 2, 2008
"Beautiful Boy" is a harrowing, well written, and honest look at drug addiction. It will be sadly familiar to anyone who has known a meth user. Although Nic Sheff fares better than some, his life is frequently derailed by his addiction. His father (and mother and stepmother, although they play less of a role) is driven to the point of a breakdown by fear and worry about when Nic's next relapse will occur, and what it will entail.
David Sheff writes with the clarity and attention to detail that you find in quality magazine writing; I particularly liked the sections about other addicts he encountered... some of the hard luck cases living along Stanyan street in San Francisco and encountered in drug rehab programs. Nic, in some ways, is one of the luckier meth addicts. (And when you read the book, you'll realize what an outrageous statement that is.)
I enjoyed the book all the way through, although I was mildly annoyed by the slightly too optimistic ending. Every memoir feels the need to end on a grace note, and I often find that jarring.
a brave memoir June 29, 2008
After catching a bit of David & Nic Sheff's interviews on "The Today Show," I decided to read both of their memoirs. While waiting for "Beautiful Boy" to arrive, I read some reviews on it and some of them were fairly critical.
I was really moved by this book. As a mother, I could feel his pain as he described the anguish of not knowing where his child was--out on the street, high, or possibly dead somewhere. David Sheff was very brave in writing this book--he is open and honest when he describes the decade of Nic's drug abuse and he clearly realizes that he had several missed opportunities to possibly help his son. He owns up to some very serious mistakes and bad choices he made that didn't help his son's situation, but perhaps contributed to it.
I am fortunate, in that I have not been touched with addiction in my immediate family. David Sheff was able to clearly communicate the way addiction impacts a family--not just the addict. His memoir about the constant ups and downs, the constant anxiety, the ever present reality that a slip from sobriety is just around the corner--it allowed me to have an understanding of how incredibly awful addiction is and how all-consuming it becomes to those who love the addict.
I would absolutely recommend this book to any parent--it opened my eyes up to how easily a "good" kid can slip down a very dark hole that is nearly impossible to dig out of, especially without the love and constant support of his family.
 How to ruin your kid's life 101 June 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My heart bleeds for Nic-he never stood a chance with these parents!
Though the author clearly loves his son-he did him no favors by treating him like his best pal instead of a son. Taking him to parties where people do drugs, having strings of girlfriends in and out of his life. He cheated on Nic's mother, moved in with the girlfriend and her kid. Then he gets dumped by her-more psychological damage on top of the divorce to Nic. I can't imagine how Nic's mother could have picked up and got married, and moved 500 miles away, hence ensuring the author would get custody of their son. How could someone do this? Then the author marries someone else and also moves, so more new schools ang changes for Nic. Is it any wonder this poor kid got so messed up? I gave the book 5 stars because it is well written, researched, and thought out. it is very readable, I am just so disgusted with how this boy was treated. Talk about putting your needs before your kids!
I am most disgusted with the authors flippant attitude about drug use. Like it's no big deal he himself smokes pot at parties with friends. Umm yes it's a very big deal, and it's illegal. What a fine example you are to your son. And I just can't imagine how damaging it was to have his mother move away at age 5, and only see her in the summer and on holidays.
I've also read Nic Sheff's book and it is heartbreaking, if not a bit disjointed. I hope he has success and can stay off drugs and is able to find some peace and happiness-no thanks to his parents.
Amazing Book, Captivating and In Depth Look at Addiction June 25, 2008
I saw this book waiting on line at a Starbucks and bought it on a whim. I'd never read anything by David Sheff before and thought it would make some nice light summer pool side reading...it was much more than that. It is a captivating book that really gets into not just how and why young people become addicts but the effect that it has on their families and gives insight into how he coped in living through it. It is a really great book for anyone who has ever known, loved or had to live with an addict, alcoholic, or person with addictive-compulsive tendencies or anyone who has just wondered how or why some talented bright people who seem to have perfect lives have turned to drugs and addiction. Philadelphia has a large community of "street kids", homeless youth in their late teens and 20 somethings many of whom look like not too long ago they were living in nice suburban homes or going to college and I'd often wondered how or why they wound up that way. This book is about exactly that. Definitely the best summer reading I've found in awhile.
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