Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

New
Paperback
2009
$7.64

David 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 wreck who stole money from his eight-year-old brother and lived on the streets. With haunting candour, 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 one another too, lest they become addicted to addiction.

Synopsis

David 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 wreck who stole money from his eight-year-old brother and lived on the streets. With haunting candour, 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 one another too, lest they become addicted to addiction.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Edition: UK ed.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 05 Jan 2009
ISBN 10: 1847391613
ISBN 13: 9781847391612

Media Reviews

'Both takes on this story are riveting, brilliantly written, thoughtful, searingly honest and equally essential. They should be mandatory reading for every teenager and every parent of one.' * Daily Mail *
'My generation experimented with drugs and, now that we are parents, is caught off guard: we never faced contemplated having to face what David Sheff has faced. He writes with candour, courage and grace of his family's harrowing - and sadly not atypical - story. Beautiful Boy is an important book. It is moving, timely and startlingly beautiful.' -- Sir Richard Branson, chairman, Virgin Group
'Those of us who love an addict - or are addicts ourselves - will find Beautiful Boy a revelation. David Sheff knows all too well what must be endured with faith, and his extraordinary book describes it better than anything else I've read. While painfully candid, Beautiful Boy is equally optimistic and powerful.' -- Martin Sheen, actor
'An honest, hopeful book, coming at a propitious moment in the meth epidemic.' * Publishers Weekly *
'An excellent book that all parents can relate to whatever their children's situation.' * Library Journal *
'Moving, painfully honest, very revealing, it tells a story which just never gets told and which is extraordinarily important.' -- Rosie Boycott
'A brilliant, harrowing, heartbreaking, fascinating story, full of beautiful moments and hard-won wisdom. This book will save a lot of lives and heal a lot of hearts.' -- Anne Lamott
'Beautiful Boy is so beautifully written that it will come as a welcome balm to millions of parents and loved ones who thought they were making this journey alone.' -- Armistead Maupin

Author Bio

David Sheff's work has appeared in the New York Times, Outside, Rolling Stone, Wired, Fortune and elsewhere. His piece for the New York Times Magazine, My Addicted Son , received an award from the American Psychological Association for Outstanding Contribution to Advancing the Understanding of Addiction .