I read Beautiful Boy soon after its release. I have returned to say that I highly recommend this book for any family member or friend of a person with, or going through treatment, of any form of drug or alcohol addiction. Outsiders looking in, do not understand the last threads of hope that people have that are close to these situations. David Scheff said it well. He was fortunate to have the funds to stay on top of his son's treatment. Many people do not.

This is a wonderful book.

The author is wonderfully expresses his pain about his loving son. I also have a daughter the same age whose drug of choice is heroin. The book opened my eyes to go to Hazeleden to joint the parents program and to go to Al-Anon.
In short I thank the author so much for being an inspiration to me.
Robert Sterling

I recommend this book. Very down to earth, truthful, compelling. I bought this book at a fraction of the cost.

It's a heart breaking story repeated in every town in every State and suffered by so many families and individuals who feel they are alone and misunderstood. Would love to know his son makes it out and can remain clean. Unfortunately it's always an ongoing problem that continues to breathe down your neck every single day. My significant Other was a tremendous, Loving, caring, supportive father who had his heart ripped out of his chest through the long suffering and heart wrenching death of his 21 year old son who couldn't make it out....
Would love to see all stories all wrapped up and sealed with a beautiful bow and happy endings- unfortunately so many do not.

Think of "A Million Little Pieces" from a parent's point of view, and you'll have a good sense of what Beautiful Boy is like. Sheff does an excellent job of not pulling any punches, taking most -- if not all -- the blame possible for his son's descent into meth addiction and his struggles to stay sober through a variety of recovery and rehab attempts.

Any parent will identify with the agony of wanting to protect your child and being unable to do so. Sheff's emotional tale is tempered with moments of hope and humor, and readers will long to see his anguish end on a happy note. Unfortunately, "happy" is a bit too optimistic, though there is the hint of some better tomorrow in the closing words.

This is one of those books that you have to read if you love your kids.
Beautifully written from a father's point of view. On one hand it made me feel quite vulnerable because you don't really know what your kids are up to and you want to believe them no matter what. On the other hand it empowered me to be tougher and it reminded me to go on gut reaction and dig deeper into the lives of my own boys. I am a teacher and I am recommending it to my teenage male students to help them see the side of adolescence that their parents see.

Great Book! New book so product was in perfect shape. Delivery quick. This book is a wonderful story about addiction and a parents journey. Recommend this book for all who have travelled down this road!!

Another wonderful book that I have recommended to several members of our Family Annyomous group. Very enlighting as to what the addict goes through and how his family tried to help him. Gives hope to family members of addicts. Something we don't always have much of.

I must admit, I couldn't get past the first twenty pages. So far, the author has written of the years of self-incrimination he's suffered, but ultimately he reaches the conclusion that we all must make our own life and death decisions, and he chooses life. Then, he begins to chronicle his experience: how having their first child complicates his relationship with his first wife, the child's mother, so he has an affair. At the first counseling session, he pronounces the marriage over. The divorce gets messy, and an arbitrator decides that the child should stay with the father in San Francisco except for holidays and the summer, when he'll be shuffled off to Mom in LA. At five, the child is flying alone. That's as far as I could go. Thank goodness for professionals like the arbitrator who acts in a child's interest by tearing his life in two, and most of all for the father who has never grasped that love means sacrifice. Another self-interested memoir about the "life struggles" of California's whine and cheese set? No thanks. I took it back to the library in favor of a recent biography of Washington. I'll wager the author wouldn't have the fortitude to survive a day in Washington's shoes. And Washington is ennobled by his adherence to principles, which as far as the author appears to know, are the people who run the public schools.

How painful this must have been to write, yet cathartic to do at the same time. This journey is incredibly thought-povoking and heart-breaking, especially for parents. The pain of addiction that can shatter a family is made real and vivid in this tale of love and courage. An insightful read that takes a difficult decision and provokes the reader to contemplate what he would do in those situations. Highly moving; hard to put down.

if you really want to read an all out honest book....this is it!....Sheff could not have been any more real than he was on this book....it is beautiful written....i am so glad i read this book....it was totally worth my time.

I started my review on "Tweak" with the same preface. I am looking at this from the point of view of my sister also being a Recovering Meth and Heroin Addict. I can unfortunately relate to the personal hell of the addiction of a family member. The only big difference in Sheff's world of pain and misery compared to my family is socioeconomic status. In the end we are all left with empty shells, where once vibrant and loving people once stood but having the ability to put your loved one into treatment when they are ready is not a luxury we had. Strange in the US we call access to drug rehab a luxury. A sad commentary that hopefully can change without more people having to experience this special kind of hell.

The book contained a great deal of information on Meth and it's affects physiologically and psychologically. It was written with raw emotion and feelings that I am all too familiar with. He documents his struggle internally and externally with a rare openness. It is truly invaluable to anyone struggling with a family member in the throws of addiction or anyone who wants to educate themselves.

I could not put this book down. It is so well written and filled not only with emotion from a first-person perspective, but also packed with research and facts that keep the intellectual reader interested. I love this book and wish I could speak with the author--doesn't everyone feel this way? I rode the roller-coaster with him throughout the course of the book and feel like I need as much help with my jelly-legs after that ride as he must. Thanks to Mr. Sheff for letting me into his world and giving me insight into a place I never want to go in person.

This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in how addiction devastates everyone in it's path. I had such empathy for David Sheff and all he went through. A wonderfully, well-written, moving book.

I have shared this book with my 21 yr old son who is in prison because of drug related crimes. I received a letter today saying that he now understands my side of his addiction. We have read both books (Beautiful Boy and Tweak)by father and son and have new insight and understanding for what we have BOTH been through. I hope to pass these books along to other family members and hope they gain some insight for what we have been through and can be more generous in their support for both of us. Thank you so much Sheff's for your bearing of soul. It has helped me and my son to grow closer.

I have never been moved by a book to actually take the time to write a review before. This book is not only well written but it is also a rude awakening to reality that we as parents do the best that we can but still could lose the battle. I have read a few of the negative reviews and I think that people are missing the point that Mr Sheff is simply writing to explain what it is like for families and parents. He does not glorify the events but recounts them with heartbreaking truth. There are parts of the book that may slow it down a touch but overall it is powerful and makes a point. Looking at the book you can see the mistakes that were made by David while raising Nic, but what parent doesn't make mistakes or have regrets. This book is truly an awakening to reality for me that any of our children are at risk and we all need to recognize that and take even the small signs to heart.

While I thought the father's view of addiction on the family was interesting, there really isn't much to the book. The story probably should have remained the in the magazine-length format.

Two things did disturb me:

1. Mr. Sheff hides the son's addiction from the step-siblings until they are past the age when Nic started to use drugs. Don't hide your head in the sand a second time!

2. Mr. Sheff allows his son to travel to Europe and attend college out of state when he knows of Nic's drug problems. While it is impossible to control your child's actions, it would seem prudent to provide additional guidance when you know it is needed.

David Sheff has chronicled his son's addictive lifestyle as well as his reactions to discovering the problem through his detachment with love. He describes well the emotions a parent experiences as they best try to help and step away from enabling at the same time and how that experience leaves you feeling.

This book was unbelievable. It was "SPOT" on to what we have been dealing with, with our son for the past 8 yrs. He is an alcoholic and fortunately, as far as I know not addicted to hard core drugs.

We have had several bouts of rehab, jail, etc. He is still struggling. He is now 22 yrs old. It was a sad on one hand and a relief on the other to know that addiction affects families the same, no matter what the addiction is.

Hitting bottom is the key, but what does it take to do that? I keep praying that our son will live long enough to hit bottom and turn himself around. It's a matter of time before we kick him out of the house for the 4th time.

I've been watching "intervention" on A&E which also shows the same details as in this book. I've contemplated turning him into this show. The other day he talked about drinking 19 beers and a bottle of whiskey in one night.....he weighs in at 148lbs and is 6' 2"!!!

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.

"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.

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.

This book disturbs me on so many levels. I can't put into words how sorry I feel for the author's son Nic.

IN a nutshell-his father cheats on his mother, and a nasty divorce ensues. His mother obviously doesn't give two flips about her son and remarries-and moves 500 miles away!! How could you do that to a toddler?! I have a child that age and would move mountains to stay close to him!! Obviously the child was going to be given to his father by default. His father who treats him like a buddy and puts him second to his love life. How damaging for a child that age to crawl into bed with his dad and find some random woman there. Then there are moves, new schools, being shuttled to his mother for holidays/summers...is there any wonder this child ended up in this kind of trouble? And I can't forget to mention dad still smokes pot occasionally and smokes it WITH Nic. What a fine example to set. But don't worry-the author is happy to let you know that it is not his fault, and spends the entire book justifying and glorifying his behavior.

I hope for Nic's sake he is able to stay clean and lead a happy life-no thanks to his selfish parents

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.

Beautiful Boy is an informative book about drug abuse. The author is a journalist so it is well written and well researched. Mostly it is the author's personal experience and the agony of having a child addicted to drugs. The author blames himself for his son's drug problems. I believe he did contribute to his son's drug problem, by not focusing on prevention when his son was young.

The author's mistakes can help you see can give you pointers on how to encourage your child away from drugs. For instance, if your child is smoking pot at 12 years old, take it seriously and get him in some type of drug treatment. The author eventually realizes that his son's school gave him the wrong advice. But at first it was easier to ignore his son's problems and just focus his career and his love life instead.

The author mentions that he told his son about his drug history. Many experts do not recommend this. If you tell your child about your drug history, you are giving them permission to use drugs.

The author does not explain how his son (except at school) is able to use drugs. Know where your child is and get them involved in healthy activities, so hopefully, they don't have time to do drugs.

It is an interesting book. I found the pros and cons and whether drug abusive is a disease informative. I still don't think drug abuse is a disease.

This book can give you pointers on how to keep your child away from drugs. Do the opposite of what the author did. Focus on your child not your love life.

I thought that this book would aid me in gaining perspective on the effects drug abuse has on a family, and at first I thought it did. However, after a week or two pondering the book I come to the conclusion that the author spent more time trying to glorify and justify his handling of his sons addiction than actually dealing with the problems head-on. For example, the author comments on how difficult it is for a child to grow up properly in a long-distant joint-custody broken home, yet he makes no mention of any effort to rectify the situation with his former spouse when the situation seems entirely preventable. He goes on and on about suffering about worries and health issues he incurred due to his sons addiction, but in retrospect I didn't detect a great deal of effort on his part to head the problem as it arose.

In all, well written, but too much of an effort to glorify a tragedy.

All of us have had problems with children during the growing up phases. But this real life accounting of a father's love and concern for his child only goes to point out how addictive drugs can be at anytime in your life. It is something that never leaves. The reader is left with the feeling that, as a father, you have done all you can do with love, treatment and compassion. The rest is up to the child or young adult in this case. As it is said in Alanon and other groups, you are powerless over the addict and have to admit that and move on. I have not read the child's point of view yet. Something every parent should read before it is too late.

The book was a detailed, living testimony regarding the challenges of an addict and people who are close to an addict. Mr. Sheff opening shared the guilt he felt/still feels and yet there is little he can do. As a person who has recently experienced the pain and agony of loving an addict I can tell you that the only way to move beyond the experience is to trust in God -- get to know him. Mr. Sheff is not a believer, but I pray that he will some day. God is reaching out to him.

This book will hit home... and will bring tears... if this is a reality for a loved one... I caught myself in tears and true empathy during parts of this book. Many pieces of it sounded so familiar and so true to life. As much pain as it was to read in parts, it helped to ease the anger and the hurt feelings from going through the process of dealing with a loved ones addiction. It was recommeded to me by a friend... and I am definately recommending it to anyone living this reality with someone or even someone who is struggling with addiction.

We picked this book for our book club, mostly because of all the hype it's been getting. We buy it, start reading, and wish it would end already. Only 2 of us in the club have actually finished it, the rest (6)have simply lost interest in it.
I wouldn't go as far as saying this guy ruined his son's life with a divorce (my parents are divorced too and I didn't get into drugs or anything like that). If reminds me of aaaaalllll those people who think they are "special" or "cool" because the come from a "broken home" or who often compete to see who is more dysfunctional.
He makes some good points, such as your freshman year of college is always the hardest... true, but the worst I ever did was skip a few classes to catch a movie or go for coffee.
The book starts out kinda cool, then gets slow, then it's interested again, then slow, on and on and on and on....
I don't want to "spoil" it. I am a parent myself, my kids are still young and have their whole lives ahead of them, and he makes a good point about you can only do so much as a parent, eventually they will make their own decisions. HOWEVER... he's a little too out there with the liberals for me. i.e. would you take your 6th. grader to a Nirvana concert? (yes, Kurt is dead, but you know what i mean). I can see him trying to be the cool, hip dad, taking your kids to concert, buying them "explicit lyrics" CDs, cursing and all to "fit in", all because his son is so brilliant. Of course his son is brilliant, but then again all our kids are brilliant to us, eventhough other people may not see how brilliant they are.

I don't expect I'll be lining up to purchase Nic's book either.

We picked this book for our book club, mostly because of all the hype it's been getting. We buy it, start reading, and wish it would end already. Only 2 of us in the club have actually finished it, the rest (6)have simply lost interest in it.
I wouldn't go as far as saying this guy ruined his son's life with a divorce (my parents are divorced too and I didn't get into drugs or anything like that). If reminds me of aaaaalllll those people who think they are "special" or "cool" because the come from a "broken home" or a dysfunctional family.
He makes some good points, such as your freshman year of college is always the hardest... true, but the worst I ever did was skip a few classes to catch a movie or go for coffee.
The book starts out kinda cool, then gets slow, then it's interested again, then slow, on and on and on and on....
I don't want to "spoil" it. I am a parent myself, my kids are still young and have their whole lives ahead of them, and he makes a good point about you can only do so much as a parent, eventually they will make their own decisions. HOWEVER... he's a little too out there with the liberals for me. i.e. would you take your 6th. grader to a Nirvana concert? (yes, Kurt is dead, but you know what i mean). I can see him trying to be the cool, hip dad, taking your kids to concert, buying them "explicit lyrics" CDs, cursing and all to "fit in", all because his son is so brilliant. Of course his son is brilliant, but then again all our kids are brilliant to us, eventhough other people may not see how brilliant they are.

I don't expect I'll be lining up to purchase Nic's book either.

This book really builds empathy and understanding for families drawn into this dreadful problem. I just finished acting in two consecutive plays that coincidentally dealt with addiction and recovery and this book just expanded what I learned from that experience. Most of this information I had heard or read before, but when it is delivered in such a personal way it becomes more meaningful. Toward the end I became more and more anxious to get to some final resolution and I am sure the family felt and still feels that way, but their lives are not a book that they can just put aside. The mental state that the author arrives at in the epilogue was especially surprising and interesting. I am eager to read Tweak for another point of view.

Beautiful Boy is dead on. My son is a 17 year old drug addict. I look at pictures of him as a small child and wonder what the hell happened. It's excrutiatingly sad. I'm actually selling my copy of the book on Amazon, and all of my other books- everything I have, because rehab is so expensive- $28,000.00 cash up front. I will do whatever it takes to save my child's life. Beachbookery.

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.

I felt like there were some really great opportunities for author David Sheff to develop a few more plot lines besides the sheer despair that he felt each time his son deserted his promises to "be clean". Perhaps he could have explored the facts about the major drug companies abilitiy to irradicate certain substances found in the manufacture of meth. Sheff never really makes the connection as to the inner reasons for his son's drug addiction, there is much speculation and wondering and self blame, but there is no real admission of hereditary, parenting effect, environmental, or a combinatin of them all. The ending also leaves you hanging. Where is he today? Did all the therapy work? Ah, yes, now the son gets to write "his side of the story", clever.

Loved this book! It is a very honest and heartbreaking depiction of the back-and-forth existence of being the parent of an addict. The father makes no excuses and continually reassesses his impact and/or responsibility in his son's illness. No self-pity or blame placed - just raw emotion. I hope to never have to go through this, but will give this book to anyone suffering through it. BEAUTIFUL BOOK!

A wonderful book. I read it in 3 days. Especially good if you are a parent. His writing & honesty are amazing.

I had never "listened" to a book before. It really made a great book come alive. The narrator did a fantastic job of making me feel the anguish of this parent. It was truthful, even when not flattering to a consciencious parent. It made the reader understand how people can care about someone and love them deeply, but for a parent with a child in the throes of addiction it's painful beyond words until David Sheff put pen to paper. And then you still know while you hear the words and feel the pain, you can't make your heart stop in the same way unless you were to experience such a malignancy yourself. It was a beautiful haunting tale that I will never forget. And I will always root for this man and his son.

Beautifully written and articulate. The author/father spoke is such candid terms, as if he was talking to you personally. Very poignant. A must read for anyone who knows someone who has an addiction... or for anyone who wants more understanding of this baffling and troubling disease. I learned so much! I really appreciated the father's self-reflection and conflict as he went back and forth between worrying, enabling, helping, detaching and loving his son. (Of course, he ALWAYS loved his son; at times, though, he didn't know how to both love him AND help him, which was the most challenging part of his journey.)

As a spouse of a newly recovering drug addict, I found this book comforting in my time of grief and turmoil. Seeing how a father reacted to his family being torn apart by drug addiction and how he dealt with it helped me come to terms with the hell that I was/am going through.

Excellent read for anyone whose family has been affected by drug abuse

is the overwhelming message of honest, highbrow, author and father David Sheff, who supports the theme by recounting the details of his son Nic's privileged life. Sheff admits to (and sufficiently beats himself up about) certain actions and behaviors of his own that he allows may have contributed to a less than perfect upbringing for his "beautiful boy," including the divorce from his wife when Nic was just three-years-old, his involvement in a series of short-term relationships following the break-up (he eventually marries and has two more children), and his own former drug use. Even taking into account the primary bad stuff, the life of a socio-economic "have" shines through. Mr. Sheff was able to afford counseling for his young son's divorce-related worries, an expensive, exclusive high school, airplane tickets galore (Mom lived in LA, Dad in SF and they shared custody), and the cost of several stints in rehab (partially covered by insurance). Although a (p 72) "remarkable" child who his father contends has benefited from joint custody, in being "more responsible, sensitive, worldly, introspective, and sagacious than he might have been otherwise," Nic's path towards a bright future became his road not taken. Instead, he was sidetracked by the use of (p 133) "the devil's own drug," methamphetamine.

David Sheff's view of his son's unfortunate trip to hell and back (and to hell again) makes for interesting reading, especially with its many marvelous references to contemporary books, music and movies, and insightfulness on the devastating effects of addiction on family members of the user. Ultimately, Mr. Sheff is willing to concede a couple Al-Anon's clichés (p 310) "I cannot control it and I cannot cure it." Skip William Moyers' Broken in favor of David Sheff's Beautiful Boy.

The horrible tale of a father trying to help his son overcome methamphetamine (Meth) addiction. There is stealing, running away from home, hospitals, problems with the law and also rehabilitation centers
It is almost a journal, step by step of how the addiction progresses and the feelings a father gets when he sees his son going deeper and deeper into this addiction.
It clearly shows the impotence of someone who wants to help but cant do more than help himself.
The father being an ex-Meth user explains his feelings of guilt and helplessness.
I truly enjoyed the ending because it is so terrible! but real!

It is a book every parent must read, even if they don't have someone to call addict in their house.

"Beautiful Boy" express the agony of parents over a child's addiction with sensitivity, honesty in a moving way. Added value is the inclusion of interviews with experts, the latest thinking on addiction and information on research. Strongly recommend this highly readable book.

It's hard to write an honest book when the book will reveal that you, its central character, are a helpless onlooker to the terrible waste of a beautiful person, your beautiful boy, your eldest son. David Sheff has written that book.

David's son Nic was, is, special. He began winning writing prizes at an early age. He had a clear, tender visage and a brilliant mind. He was obviously destined for worldly success. All that promise died when, at age 11, he started using pot, then booze, then LSD.

Then he graduated. To meth.

Methamphetamine isn't a trendy drug. It isn't imported. It isn't a party favorite. It's manufactured in filthy garages by deranged addicts-turned-dealers, a trip of last resort for people who simply must go the downward route. It turns its users into raging animals, then passive wraiths, enhancing their sexual peaks and darkening their lowest fevered valleys. Nic, the sweet, smart, beautiful boy, became evasive, dishonest, a thief, a prostitute, a street person --- he sank and sank.

David grew up in a generation that embraced the use of drugs --- pot smoking, in the Berkeley hills where he raised Nic and his two half-siblings, was completely acceptable. Not using drugs would have been abnormal. So the good, liberal dad anticipated that Nic might have contact with drugs and might need some guidance. He saw his son turn into a skeletal stranger, but he chose to believe it was just a little pot, just a little alcohol, just something that could be dealt with easily by counseling or, at the most, a period of a few weeks in standard rehab.

For both father and son, it took years --- agonizing, tragic, lost years --- to understand that Nic was not going to emerge one day as a normal guy, finish college and settle down. Nic was unmoored. David learned that addiction begins with a predilection lurking way back in the genetic code. But what happens next are acts of will. The addict knows that he or she must break the addictive cycle, go into rehab and stay with the program. But over and over again, addicts like Nic refuse and reject that avenue of salvation. They are in a dance with evil, and often, for reasons no one else can understand, they want to die.

David and his wife despaired when Nic would sneak in and steal their belongings or write bad checks on their accounts. They were exhausted by trying to care and yet be tough, forced to use every encounter with Nic as a confrontation to convince him to do something he didn't want to do. David lived through all the guilt trips --- it was his fault for divorcing when Nic was young, for not figuring things out soon enough, for not doing something that could have saved Nic. But what? Then came anger and resentment at being used, ripped off by his addict son; then Nic would disappear again and David would think with horror, "Nic could die." David knew that Nic needed to have a serious crisis so he could see the need for a change. He'd been told that for the change to take hold "you have to be alone, broke, desolate, desperate." Surely Nic had been all those, but he didn't come up and stay up. Nic's little half-sister Daisy put it wisely: "It's like Nic is like my brother who I know and this other guy who I don't."

David realized one day that he missed Nic and wanted him back, but that the Nic he loved was gone already, and forever. Yet still there were those precious times, such as when Nic would come home occasionally and play with his half-sister and brother, or when David was immobilized after a near-fatal subarachnoidal hemorrhage and Nic was there, sitting by his bed, holding out a lifeline to his ailing father like a flickering promise. Such times keep a parent hoping, even when they find themselves collapsing in tears at an Al-Anon meeting, pouring out their story to a roomful of strangers.

It took guts to write this book, and guts to live through what David Sheff has lived through. He offers the few tips he has picked up along the way, but he doesn't consider himself a font of advice. With Nic still in some stage of recovery at the book's close, David can only say, "I am confident I have done everything I could to help Nic. Now it's up to him...our relationship can evolve into one of independence, acceptance, and compassion, with healthy boundaries. The love is a given."

--- Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott

One of the best books I have read in the last year and one of the most riveting memoirs I've read in a long, long time.

David Sheff is able to portray the frustration, anger, angst and incredible agony of living with a loved one who is addicted without being self-serving or over dramatic.

Each time his son disappears, your stomach drops and you are almost there with Sheff while his worry and doubt eat away at him. Each time Nic fails, you want to shout at him and each time he gets back up you want to cheer for him.

Sheff's hope and grief come through in every chapter and you are constanly left wondering "what if?"

But while Sheff succeeds mightily in putting you in the room with him, he doesn't wallow nor does he force his readers to wade in self pity.

I've already ordered Tweak and I'm hoping Nic has all of the candor of his dad and even half the story-telling ability.

In the back of all our minds when our beautiful sons and daughters are born is the realization of all the evil that can be laid upon them by society and by themselves. Those adorable, cute, huggable children face step after step of hazardous life --- made especially hazardous during the teenage years when being "with it" often means being dumb.

This book is where many of us have not gone but know we could have gone. Sheff is a courageous writer.

After standing in line at Starbuck's for as it seemed, over a month, I decided to purchase this book on Amazon.com. I haven't regretted it. David Sheff offers an inside look at a Father and Son and a horrible addiction. The book made me both happy and sad and at times, and gave me a stomach ache because of the drug's powerful pull. It's such a HOT topic these days. For those of you who have thought about buying this book - do it!

Unfortunately the father/author spends so much time telling us about his idyllic life and self-importance that he fails at a thorough and genuine self-evaluation and revelation. I spent the time while reading the book wondering if he ever really listens (treats young Nic as a little adult and repeats the same by needing to explain Nic's addiction to his four-year old) and why he cannot give his son some space (He attends an AA meeting with his son as a gesture of support. I can only imagine what the AA group was thinking.).

I have been in the drug and alcohol treatment business in the San Francisco area for 30 years. I can testify that the events in this family's life are unfortunately true and more frequent than many people would like to know. I consider this book a major contribution to our field because it is such a well-written journey of the addict and his/her family. I recommend that people read and embrace the truth of this book, no matter how fearsome the content.

This was an excellent book from a parent's point of view concerning a child's drug addiction and the tumult that it causes in a family. It is very heart-rendering and makes a person want to step back and take a look at their own family so that you can identify the signs or signals that your children are giving off before they get over their heads in this type of a situation. Be prepared with the kleenexes when you read it!