Instead he writes family scene after family scene of Nick being this golden boy as a child/teenager which becomes annoying because clearly Nick had problems beyond the divorce when he was a young child. Plus, I don't think the author actually ever gets what he could have done to speed up his kid's coming to grips with addiction. I was so engrossed in this memoir. I recommend this book to anyone that loves someone, friend or family that lives with addiction. Summary in 4 Sentences: This is the very personal first person account of a father’s intense and painful struggle to deal with his son’s addiction. His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself, and the obsessive worry and stress took a tremendous toll, but as a journalist, he instinctively researched every avenue of treatment that might save his son and refused to give up on him. In and out of rehab. Gut-wrenching! 123Helpme.com. David Sheff discusses his own drug use and alludes to his immaturity/commitment issues as a factor in his divorce from Nick's mother which he blames mostly for his son's drug problems, but he never discusses the root of his issues (or even specifically what they were beyond immaturity) or how they affected his parenting style -- or even what his parenting style was beyond "hanging out" and having fun during his time w/ Nick (it appears he only disciplined Nick when he was caught w/ drugs). It makes you laugh and cry.
Though his parents eventually divorce, Nic has a happy and normal childhood. Nic, then a senior in high school, steals money from his younger siblings and gets arrested for possession in front of them, leading Sheff to install a security system to prevent Nic from breaking in. Relapse is part of recovery. Entertainment Weekly named it the #1 Best Nonfiction Book of 2008 and it won the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award for nonfiction in 2008. Nic, overdosed, in a Brooklyn emergency room, his father racing to the airport only to learn that Nic has pulled out his IVs and catheters and fled the hospital. I'll be thinking about this book for some time to come and definitely recommend it. "Hey, I dig Nirvana! Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines is a follow-up book and autobiographical memoir written by the son Nic Sheff personally about his own ordeal. But it just shows that even people with loving families are not exempt from drug addiction. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers.
After I read Beautiful Boy, I was really freaked out about the accessibility of drugs, and the father made it seem as if everyone in the world will eventually try drugs at least once in their life. Welcome back. How to we love our kids and hate what they do to themselves and to us? Copy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page.
David Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs: the denial, the 3 A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? David goes on to marry Karen, and they have two children together—Jasper and Daisy. Why this book: Recommended to me by my son Brad . He also presents a lot of research on crystal meth and its effects on users. It’s everywhere. Not my story but close enough. The refered battle could have been shorter if father and son didn’t waste so much time battling each other instead of acting as a team towards the devilish meth
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. The book grew out of the article "My Addicted Son"[1] that Sheff had written for The New York Times Magazine in 2005.
I'll need a while to really digest Beautiful Boy, but I do want to read the son's account, (Tweak by Nic Sheff), to try to understand the experience from his view. Beautiful Boy is a fiercely candid memoir that brings immediacy to the emotional roller coaster of loving a child who seems beyond help.
Beautiful Boy, published in 2008, is a memoir by David Sheff that details his son's battle against drug addiction.