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

• Brilliant and Moving Parental Memoir

  
  By A1YUL9PCJR3JTY on 2008-02-26
  *****
  This is a stunningly written, intense and emotional memoir of a father's struggle to deal with his brilliant, charismatic, and caring son's addiction to methamphetamine. It is honest and authentic and raw and heart-rending and fascinating. It is unforgettable. As I read, I felt many emotions for both the father and son---everything from anger to sadness to grief to fear. I felt as though I was right there on the emotional roller coaster with the author.
  
  Even if you have no personal experience of a loved one's addiction, you will be moved by this father's struggle to cope with his son's substance abuse turmoils. Despite methamphetamine being this country's most problematic drug, many of us, including me, know very little about it, and may not initially feel too interested in finding out. However, the author's struggles and emotional journey are so poignant and compelling that any reader will find themselves caught up in this memoir, will benefit from what they learn and most of all, will be glad that they read it. If you know and/or love an addict, this book will be even more important---it will be vital---as you will find much to identify with and perhaps even be able to better process some of your own emotions.
  
  Highly recommended.
  *****
  
  
  

• Harrowing and redemptive

  
  By A10G4BPT5MGBHY on 2008-02-27
  As a parent, I was transfixed by this harrowing story of a charming, intelligent boy's addiction and what it does to his family. You instantly like the boy, Nic Sheff, yet you can feel the father's pain.
  
  The drug problems begin when author David Sheff finds a bag of marijuana in his 12-year-old's backpack. By age 17 Nic is hooked on crystal meth, and he spirals into a decade-long pattern of drug abuse. He lies, steals, lives on the street and nearly dies. His heartbroken family takes the journey with him.
  
  At the end, with Nic in a shaky recovery, David Sheff has a life-changing moment when he realizes that "my children will live with or without me. It is a staggering realization for a parent, but one that ultimately frees us to let our children grow up."
  
  Sheff has good practical advice in this book, starting and ending with talking with your child early and often about drugs. There is also a huge amount of information about methamphetamines and how dangerous and pervasive its abuse is in this country. I learned a lot of scary information in this book, and I'm sure it will be a lifesaver for many.
  
  

• Every parent should read this book

  
  By A3CPT1K8IAM0B9 on 2008-02-28
  I am the founder of Parenting Magazine. (Disclosure -- like almost everyone who has ever met David Sheff, I am a fan and friend.) So I initially read this book because I know the author, but I am writing this review because Beautiful Boy is so wonderful and important. Every parent, not just those with addicts in their family, can learn and grow from reading this book. Tough to read, at times, like many horror stories, but so moving and ultimately redemptive in a tough-minded yet loving way.
  
  

• SHOULD BE CALLED DELUSIONAL FATHER

  
  By A1JC1QHFYC7FXH on 2008-03-04
  What do you get with a self obsessed obsiquis writer? This book... a typical marin lib that doesnt get it. Gee your son is wasted...what do you do...smoke a joint with him...good work pops.
  
  this book drolls on with hip passages of writers,lyrics,and scientific quotes but misses every point....the father screws his sons life with divorce and lack of higher power.
  
  dont buy the book ...at first sign your child is doing dope put them in a rehab program for at least 6 months.
  
  

• Why Traditional Addiction Treatment Doesn't Work

  
  By A2F3TB019LU664 on 2008-04-25
  This book does an excellent job in describing the ultimate state of disrepair in which we find the traditional treatment industry; ineffective therapists, 15 minute med management meetings in which psychotropic medications are dispensed without thorough workups, inpatient treatment programs that create an artificial environment and support system that can't be replicated in the real world, separate support groups for the addict (AA) and the family (ALANON)......a treatment scheme that hasn't changed much, at least for the better, since 1938. Close to 90 percent failure rates yet little changes. Unnecessary despair, learned hopelessness, all while ignoring the basic physiology of addiction.
  
  All because addiction is perceived to be a matter of choice. Lung cancer is predominantly a matter of choice. Heart disease; a matter of choice. Type II diabetes, obesity....all can be argued as a matter of choice. Yet only addicts and their families are asked to serve their life sentences, anonymously, in church basements, whispering their first names only until they draw their last breath.
  
  It's time for a new approach. The approach can start with ALANON using their platform to cause people like Mr. Sheff to understand that adult decisions made during the early formative years of child rearing can have a lasting effect of the behavior of those children. In fact acrimonious divorce is a common theme in the treatment of many DSM categories. His inability to take responsibility for his actions is one of the things that keep many people addicted, The notion that all that is wrong in every life is caused by the addicted individual; that they are the epicenter for all that is wrong simply because they are willing to take on that unfair burden, is quite unhelpful.
  
  In many ways, Mr. Sheff needs to be accountable for his mistakes that led to his son self medicating past experiences. And he must also take responsibility for not finding him appropriate medical treatment during his adolescent years. The decisions for treatment were not your son's, sir. They were yours. You have some responsibility in the failure of treatment too.
  
  Imagine if Mr. Sheff, after diagnosis with an aneurism, was treated in a group environement without specialized medication or nutritional support that was essential for recovery. Imagine if an aneurism was treated as a matter of choice; a moral or character defect. imagine being powerless over your aneurism. Imagine art therapy instead of a drill to the skull to alleviate pressure. Apply the same standards and expect the same results: avoidable, premature death.
  
  In all, if this book was intended to be entertaining or cathartic, then it hits its mark. If it was meant to be instructive or helpful to the millions suffering from or related to addiction, it does a disservice.
  
  
• A Father's Great Love
  By A119JJQ6WL0566 on 2008-03-03
  Beautiful Boy is often times repetitive and much slower than Tweak, Nic Sheff's memoir of his own addiction. David Sheff's story is one of fearful anticipation and waiting. Waiting to hear from the police about Nic's latest crime. Waiting to hear from the hospital to see if Nic survived the night. Waiting to hear from Nic to know that he is alive. It took three days for me to read Beautiful Boy. I just couldn't stay inside David Sheff's anguish for too long at a time. David really loves his son, and Nic really loves his father, but against methamphetamines, their love is just not strong enough. All David Sheff can do is cautiously hope that his son will be one of the ones to beat his addiction. All David Sheff can do is "step back, be supportive, but let Nic's recovery be his recovery as we work on creating healthy, as Nic describes them, loving and supportive but independent relationships." He has no choice but to let his beautiful boy go and find his own life.
  
  For the rest of this review and others, see my site.
  
  
• An incredible, incredible book
  By A2NX6MFZP8TM6S on 2008-05-28
  Being that I'm currently going through much the same thing that David Sheff went through--albeit on a smaller scale (if there is such a thing as a "smaller scale" of addiction when your own kid is the addict)--Beautiful Boy made me cry like a baby many, many times. I'm sure if you read it, it will affect you, too. So many of the thoughts the dad has are dead on with what I've experienced over the last four years. And the realization that he finally came to--that one way or another, your child will live or die with or without you, and it's really out of your control, so you have to let go of it--is the one thing that I just haven't been able to get my arms around yet. I totally understand what he's saying. But letting go is so, so, so hard. I get daily updates from my kid's counselor at rehab (my son signed a full disclosure agreement). And I cry after reading them. I never in a million years thought that I'd have an addict for a son who would be in rehab 360 miles away from home at age 18. It's tough. To everyone who is reading this review and has a younger child: Talk to them about drugs. Talk about the dangers, talk about alternatives to self-medication, etc. You do NOT want to go through what David Sheff went through and what my wife and I are going through and have gone through for 4+ years. You'll just have to trust me on that one. Kudos to Mr. Sheff for writing one of the best books I've ever read. I wish nothing but the best for him and his son, Nic.
  
  
• Only half the story
  By A372VA1THN8MDX on 2008-03-15
  Wow, amazing that the young girl from NY mentioned The Lost Years, I was thinking the same thing. Like the woman from NY I also read The Lost Years, last year. I am a person in recovery with five and half years of sobriety. As I said in my review for The Lost Years, I did and do recommend The Lost Years to all my students and colleagues as it was the finest piece of literature on addiction, I have ever read and as a PhD I read veraciously. This year I read Beautiful Boy. David Sheff is a great writer and an impressive story teller. His journey through his son's addiction is heartbreaking and compelling. His story will help many people. Unfortunately for Beautiful Boy it is frustrating as it is only one side of the story, and I will not buy his sons book, due to lack of free time. For my students The Lost Years is the only book I will recommend as it saves them the $20 they have to pay for the `other' side of the story. I suppose it was smart for the publisher to print two different books to tell the same story but for families and individuals who need inspiration, insight and hope quickly, The Lost Years, with both sides in one book, is the only way to go. The Lost Years, with the mother daughter story side by side, will be on the shelf for years to come.
  
  
  
  
• A Father's Sad and Ultimately Futile Struggle
  By A2VZM9JD1Y1B5A on 2008-03-06
  The book is indeed moving but hardly inspirational. On the contrary, it returns again and again to the theme that a parent's search for a solution to a child's addiction is likely to be futile.
  
  As he struggles to find some way to help his son, the author seeks advice from anyone and everyone -- therapists, medical researchers, addiction counselors, family members of other addicts. In the process he learns a great deal about the suffering of those whose loved ones become addicted, but he learns nothing that is of any real assistance to him. Everyone he talks to gives different advice about what works or doesn't work, and no one can tell him what will or will not work for his child. Most of what he tries does not work, and by the end of the book while there are many hopeful signs it is far from certain that his son's troubles are over.
  
  Popular fiction about substance abuse tends to suggest that there are neat, lasting solutions to the problem -- intervention, rehab, AA, medical treatment. As this book makes clear, none of these methods has a high rate of success. The most poignant moment in the book for me is a scene in which the author meets a mother who is pleased that her daughter, a former student at Harvard, is now in prison for drug offenses, because prison is the only place the girl can be kept away from drugs.
  
  
  
• Heartbreaking
  By A3HK2N4K5HCABL on 2008-03-06
  For anyone who is curious about the world of Meth addiciton, this is a must read. I am of a different generation--where alcohol and weed were the norm in the world of "addiction", but this crystal meth is another kind of nightmare altogether.
  
  I was riveted from page one as the author desperately tries to understand the complexities of his son's world. Recommend for anyone who has or is dealing with this issue.
  
  
• Worth reading, but...
  By A2VONH0I1GBO28 on 2008-03-30
  I noticed that people were comparing this book with The Lost Years. I've
  read both of them. Each one was worth reading, but I preferred the Lost
  Years because it ended in a more inspiring way. The daughter, Kristina
  Wandzilak, not only got sober, but she has built an entire career as a
  successful interventionist who helps other addicts and their families
  through recovery. She's a role model for addicts, and a beacon of hope
  for their families, including the Sheffs.
  
  
• if only this had been around 15 years ago...
  By A2MVEONCFOTJKV on 2008-03-09
  i read tweak first, and i had a sense of hope for the younger sheff, i cried, had confidence that he, the writer will be ok. then i read the elders memoir. moving, and in the end the most important point, to me anyway, in both books, is once an addict always an addict, and everyday for the rest of your life it is a struggle. not ONLY for the abuser, but for the families, friends, and people who love them.
  
  the three c's of al-anon, truth, bare bones feelings, understanding of the disease of addiction. yes, your addict son WILL steal from you. i wanted my own mother to read both books, having dealt with my own addiction more than 15 years ago, when prozac was a cure all for everything. i feel i have a better understanding of what i myself had done, the pain i caused to my parents, the tx programs that promised to make it better. i just never took it all in. and in the end, none of that matters until an addict is ready. ready to stop using, ready to live. both books were long over-due in a society riddled with drug abuse. it's out there, can strike at anytime, anyplace, anyone.
  
  i wanted to go hug my parents when i finished this one. i now understand the pain they felt. i truely, had no idea. read this book whether your the family member of an addict, or in recovery yourself, you won't be able to put it down. it shoves the reality of addiction down your throat like a hard to swallow lump of coal, but sometimes that's a little necessary. everyone i believe will get SOMETHING out of the reading expierience.
  i listen intently to my own daughters stories about drugs at her high school, she's 16, and drugs, yep. here we go. she asked to read tweak. i handed it to her, and she hasn't put it down. everyone needs to read these books.
  
  
  
  
• Who do we blame? What should we do?
  By A2W26AAU92CN70 on 2008-03-12
  A father's description of his son's battle with drug addiction. It is so well written that it is a page-turning narrative even if you are not involved, personally or professionally, with drug addiction. It is moving and insightful and will be helpful to many.
  I feel bad about making any reservations about such a magnificent book, and I wouldn't want to be construed as advocating legalization or minimizing the problems addressed but some comments are in order.
  The introduction includes poignant stories of parents whose children have lost their lives to drugs. The lethality, the danger of death, does vary with different drugs. (Naltrexone is not mentioned). In most cases this is a chronic rather than an acutely life-threatening disease. There is some disconnect between the danger to life and the adverse effects on behavior and character. Nick's drug of choice was methamphetamine but he was a multiple user, including shooting heroin.
  Detox regimes for different drugs differ markedly. There are accepted medical detox regimes for alcohol and heroin, whereas with cocaine and crystal meth and club drugs the withdrawal is just cold turkey. Paradoxically we have a lot of scientific knowledge about the action of these drugs but little in the way of treatment has come out of the neuroscience.
  The book places some emphasis on marihuana as a gateway drug. No mention is made of the use of amphetamines (disguised as Ritalin, Cnncerta, Focalin, Adderall etc) to treat ADHD.
  As regards the moral issue, I think Sally Satin's logic is impeccable; the brain imaging studies show results not causes. On the other hand there is clinical evidence for a disease concept. Some people get jittery and have an unpleasant sensation if they take amphetamines; some get nauseated and cannot even tolerate taking Percocet for a toothache. Such people are not likely to become addicts, but that seems to be due to some chemical factor, perhaps inherited, not because they are nicer or wiser than anyone else.
  
  
  
• Compelling and Courageous
  By A15XQUPHWDKYVF on 2008-03-13
  David Sheff is a courageous man. Beautiful Boy is a great read, a horror story, and great reference material. It pulses with the unconditional love of a father in a way that makes me admire him and the guts it took to tell this story. For those of us with practicing and/or recovering alcoholics and addicts in our families, David's story is our story. Different drug, different town, different path....but same shame, frustration, anger, and the relentlessness of a disease with no bottom. I couldn't put this book down. Thank you, David Sheff, for your humanity and your gift of putting into words the unthinkable and the untouchable emotions in lives impacted by addiction.
  
  
• I am in college and starbucks..
  By AJZWFVIQTF1C3 on 2008-03-15
  I went to college this year. I have never been addicted and have never had addiction in my family. Normally I would never read such a book but last year I read The Lost Years by Kristina Wandzilak and Constance Curry, a mother daughter addiction story and it simply changed my life. It was the best book I have ever read and The Lost Years brought my family together in a very amazing way, as it gave us an opportunity to have a hard conversation about drugs and alcohol. And for a busy person like me, the fact that the mother daughter story was in one book, not two, was perfect. I read The Lost Years in two days, and therefore the whole story of addiction, not one side. However, as I spend many days in Starbucks, I bought Beautiful Boy and it was very well written. Clearly Mr. Sheff is a writer. The Lost Years is gritty, like a diary, and Mr. Sheffs writing is very polished. I will not buy his sons book, simply because I have too much else to do in my life, but it was a great story. It took two weeks to get through it, as I found it less compelling since it was only the father's perspective. I kept thinking, "I wonder what his son is thinking or feeling at this point?" I loved how The Lost Years was written with the mother daughter perspective, one after another, not in a separate book. Beautiful Boy and The Lost Years show me, a person never touched by addiction, that addiction can happen to a normal mother and daughter and to a family with a father who has interviewed the most famous musician that had ever lived.
  
  
• intense, yet very necessary reading
  By A11VIF6J1S04C1 on 2008-03-02
  I picked this book up on Friday, began reading it on my bus commute home, and kept reading it until I had it finished at 1:00 AM. Not only was it powerfully written, but it was also candidly written. David didn't hold back at all, and I think his decision to put it all out there was definitely the right decision. When reading this, you can see how David eventually goes from being broken to healing, you can see how heinous meth addiction is for Nic, and you can see that addiction is really a problem that effects everyone and not just the addict. I think this should be required reading for anyone who is going through the rehabilitation process with someone they love, and it should be required reading for someone who is in recovery to give some perspective on how addiction really touches everyone involved with that person. I found myself rooting for David, Nic, and the rest of the family when I finished this book, and I'll continue to root for them. Seriously- if you choose to pick up this book you will NOT be sorry.
  
  
• The most important book this year!
  By A162Q8YAELWMLG on 2008-03-06
  Being the parent of an addict is one of the most difficult things a person can go through. David Sheff was able to share his story in a remarkable way. This book was not only suspenseful; I could have read it in one night if I didn't have to work in the morning, but it was highly informative. I learned so much about meth, drugs, addiction, alanon, etc. David really did his research. But, most importantly he gave a voice to all the crazy emotions I have been feeling for the last six months. I found out that I am not alone. Anyone who knows an addict or has kids should read this book. It will change the way you look at addicts and the parents of addicts! We must treat addiction as a disease so that we can start helping the youth of today get treatment they deserve.
  
  
• Bravo!
  By A3513PTBD7GY0K on 2008-03-17
  As someone who is in recovery for crystal meth addiction, I highly recommend this book to those with addiction issues, their family members and to addiction specialists. David Sheff's insight into the disease of addiction and particularly the insidious nature of crystal meth is pitch perfect. I would also like to add that I attribute any "success" to my recovery process to having done many of the "best practices" outlined in his meticulous research of treatment options. I don't think I would have made it (thus far) if I had not gone to a treatment center with a specialized program for crystal meth (using the Matrix) which lasted for more than 4 months. I also went directly from there to a 2-year recovery home where I still reside. As Sheff has learned and written so eloquently, recovery (both for addicts and their families) is a process not an event, and it never ends.
  
  
• Another kind of love
  By A5MRQEO7PCBBA on 2008-03-23
  David Sheff's work is eloquent and his message is poignant. A hard message to deliver, I noticed some reviewers want to swat the messenger. Those who read this book and found it necessary to judge the father of an addict for any reason, after he exposed his own guilt quite well, must have missed the message. I'm sure Sheff expected such responses. But, he had the courage to expose his son and himself. He gave the gift of sincerity and though his memoir was cathartic for him, it was also an invitation to the parents and loved ones of addicts to come into his embrace, to walk with him, to cry with him, to know they are not alone. His quote, "You are as sick as your secrets" was his key to freedom from the darkness addiction can impose on anyone who loves an addict. He shared that key with the world when he shared his secrets.
  
  Addiction does not discriminate. For any reader who is under the mistaken impression that addiction only exists in underprivileged families who live in the ghetto, or within the dynamics of divorced families, or among the atheists' families in our society, needs to read this book; then read it again.
  
  JM
  
  
  
  
• Compelling, Honest and Tragic... A must read
  By A2CCRNPPZ6XFBY on 2008-03-07
  Having previously worked in a psychaitric hospital and drug and alcohol rehabilitation center I was familiar with the horrors and destruction caused by rampant drug use. However, to read it from David Sheff's perspectve...as a parent myself, simply broke my heart completely. His writing is brutally honest, humble and heartwrenching. You are with him the entire journey, through the good times praying for Nic to stay clean, and in the depths of despair hoping he can hang on and be strong. It's a book unlike any other you've read, and an amazing eye-opener for parents who simply think that their kids "will never be THOSE kind of kids who do drugs." I'll be reading Nic's book next..
  
  
• A Recovering Alcoholics Review
  By A1U6I5M0DFBNAG on 2008-03-10
  As a woman in recovery with more than 16 years of continuous sobriety and a memoir junkie I found Beautiful Boy to be dead on in summing up the cycle of addiction. I felt as if I was sitting in a meeting and listening to someone share experience, strength and hope. Wisely written to convey the recovery process for the family of addicts, I will be recommending Beautiful Boy to many.
  
  Thank you for sharing your story with us.
  
  Gwen R
  TwelveBeads.com
  
  
  
• This is your story.
  By A2NOP74QCFR48Z on 2008-03-19
  If you are the parent of a drug or alcohol addicted youth....this is YOUR STORY! I read it with my mouth open in awe. Wondefully raw and honest. Thank you for making me feel less alone David Sheff.
  
  
• Intense, beautiful, thrilling, FANTASTIC!
  By A3360BJ440X0P5 on 2008-03-20
  Highly recommended, to anyone and everyone. This book is an intensely emotional story of a father's unconditional love for his son. The agonizing anguish and soaring hope were intricately told. I could not put it down. It was raw, yet tender and achingly familiar. I loved Sheff's use of words, as well as the way he weaved many quotes from many resources--Shakespeare to Cobain--sheer genius. I grieved for Sheff as I grieve for myself, my drug addict brother, my entire family, and every family whose lives are ripped apart by the insidiousness of addiction. This book was validating, motivating and fascinating. A MUST READ!! DO NOT MISS!!
  
  
• BeautifulGirl
  By A3F31MVZLW7SYP on 2008-03-21
  Our daughter is 21, extremely intelligent and beautiful. Three weeks ago we needed to check her into an Inpatient facility. She was abusing prescription meds. I just finished David Sheff's book and was thrilled to find that this illness can touch anyone anywhere. I am not alone!Each parent that experiences this with their own child is feeling the same exact emotions. I could have put our names in place of theirs and this could have been our story. There were so many points that David Sheff made where I recognized our family. I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants any insight into today's society. This is an epidemic that is out of control. It can touch each and everyone of us. No one should hide their heads in the sand and say not my child. I wish I had written this book because I would have loved to touch so many lives as I hope Mr. Sheff will. Bravo on a job well done!!!!
  
  
• Thank you
  By AB4D2KC6JHQTD on 2008-04-08
  I had to stop so many times. I couldn't read through my tears. So often I thought, "I could have written this". Addiction becomes the never-ending story. The blaming of self becomes insidious and the sorrow unbearable. This book has made me feel both hopeful and hopeless. I feel that all of us that love addicts are fighting the dark side. I don't know if my son has the will power or the strength to win this battle. As an agnostic I have placed my son in the hands of God. I will never give up hope or lose faith because my dream is my son healthy, happy and smiling again. But, like the author throughout this book, I will site the title of a song from a very old Fleetwood Mac album. "I saw you, coming back to me". Thank you David Sheff for sharing your hope and your pain. I am reading Nic's book now but as I read it my son is missing. It is almost too much.
  
  anonymous
  
  
  
• Heartbreaking on so many levels
  By A14GK0E64J0WAS on 2008-04-20
  This book has gotten a lot of publicity, and ultimately I couldn't resist the urge to read this book, even though I am blessed and fortunate to say that neither of my kids are in any sort of situation like the author describes here (knock on wood).
  
  In "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction" (326 pages), author David Sheff tells the story of how his teanage son descends in the hell of meth-addiction (after having gone through a bunch of other drug-related issues). The feelings described by the father are complex, many of them having to do with guilt (the author describes his younger days of ample drug use), shame and an utter sense of frustration. "I torment myself with the same unanwerable questions: Did I spoil him? Was I too lenient? Did I give him too little attention? Too much? If only I never used drugs. If only his mother and I had stayed together. If only and if only and if only..."
  
  It is something that I don't wish on anyone, and I pray I won't have to deal with that ever in my family. I must say, though, that one thing struck me in this book as completely incomprehensible and foreign, namely the relaxed attitude that many figures of authority (including in schools) had when the son was found to be smoking/selling pot. "They all do it." Say what? What kind of an environment or community is that? That aside, "Beautiful Boy" is a page-turner from start to finish, and I can't wait to pick up the book that the son has written (it was released simultaneously with this book).
  
  
• I am living your life.
  By ALEHXPX4IS8RS on 2008-04-28
  This could have been written by me. I have lived though the same lies and deceit as David. Many years of pain and anguish. Tens of thousands of dollars in cash and property stolen for Heroin. I'm Trying everything to get and keep my son sober. In and out of rehab centers, In and out of jail. As with David, I keep trying and trying, hoping that someday it will sink in. In the mean-time I'm watching my son kill himself with Heroin.
  This is a must read for anyone who's family member is an addict. David Sheff tells it like it is. And those of us who have or are living it, appreciate David Sheff for having the courage to put it in print.
  It helps to know that I'm not alone in my frustration, my fears, my guilt, my depression. It's encouraging to know that there is hope, however remote, of recovery. Thank you, David,
  
  
• So good I had to put it down!
  By A2TOPNOYV52Q8K on 2008-03-09
  Well this is a new one. I'm rating this book tops...and I can't finish it just now. At least not until my 18 year old finishes his freshman year of college. The writing is superb; Sheff is EveryDad and Nic EverySon. Too many 'Yeah, that is true for us' and 'That too' and 'That too.' But I fret enough, startle plenty when the phone rings late at night, without the vivid specifics described herein.
  
  I need the details of Mr. Sheff's epiphany, but I can't get there the usual way, page by page, and I'm unwilling to read the ending first. I've got "Tweak" queued up as well, but after scanning the first few pages, that also goes into the maybesummer reading pile.
  
  
• Honest, brave, insightful. HIGHLY RECOMMEND
  By A2QP37VWQ932ZV on 2008-03-10
  I too have experienced Meth use in a loved one and am thankful to have read this and that this is out there for others. Especially those who are still lost and have not found al-anon. Nobody is prepared and we all need stories like this one to transcend and heal.
  
  
• Heartbreaking and Helpful
  By A1QEGAV6AD89GH on 2008-03-13
  This is a remarkably well-written story. It is also offers helpful advice--not so much for those who are wondering how to protect their children from drugs, but more for those who are struggling with loving a family member struggling with an addiction.
  
  The story is absolutely riveting and heartbreaking. Like many other readers, I couldn't put it down. Even though it doesn't offer a great deal of advice about what parents can do to prevent their kids from using drugs, it makes all parents aware of the need to prepare themselves for whatever may come. It emphasizes the importance of having a plan to help your kids avoid the dangers of drugs, and, in the event the a child makes choices that harm them, having a plan to take care of yourself and the rest of your family.
  
  Therefore, whether you want a great story or some practical advice, Beautiful Boy has both. Highly recommended.
  
  

• Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines
• Manic: A Memoir
• Hope's Boy: A Memoir
• A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
• Bright Shiny Morning