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

I will recommend this book.

David Sheff did not miss a single experience of having a drug addicted child. He seconds guesses himself constantly, reads about it, asks questions, researches new and old treatment, loses sleep, deprives himself of other loved ones, sets aside his life over and over again, is depressed, makes himself physically sick and the sinking feeling he would get when the phone rings and the feelings of hopelessness in getting help. He cannot turn to God. As a parent of a drug addicted son myself, Mr. Sheff didn't miss a beat. My son passed away 2 years ago and my family and I lived the life Mr. Sheff lived. I will always wonder if I could have done more or what did I miss from the very beginning. I had this book for over a year before I could bring myself to read it and I will give it to people going through this terrible experience.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely Stunning.. Beautifully Written.

Being a Substance Abuse Intervention Minor I am constantly interested in seeing how families deal with addictions and this book provides such an amazing insight. I've actually read both Beautiful Boy and Tweak and I would recommend either to anyone interested in addiction.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Beautiful Boy

Very informational for parents of teenagers. Very well written and devastatingly real.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Eye Opening

This was truly a perspective changing novel. My brother was a heroin addict when we were younger, and I did not effectively deal with the pain and self-blame that experience created in me. Hearing how David Sheff dealt with the issue surrounding his own son's meth addiction changed the way I perceived myself, as well as my role in my brother's addiction and recovery. The amount of research Sheff incorporated in this novel provided the evidence I needed to start looking at that time period in my own life and the life of my family as a whole in a completely different way. I always believed addiction is a disease that steals the one's we love and transforms them into people they never wanted to be. This novel showed that I was right in some ways and wrong in others. Any one who has dealt with addiction, whether crystal meth or others, will find this memoir enlightening and therapeutic.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Beautiful Boy is an amazing book with a personal view on additions.

Beautiful Boy is an amazing (and sad) journey that David Sheff describes about his son Nic and his addiction with Methamphetamines. This book provides a personal parent's point of view of the rollercoaster life that his family and his son endured during his son's drug addiction.
This book was so easy to read and understand coming from a family who has endured drug additions.
I didn't want the story to end when I finished the book. I wondered what happened to him and his son. Have they been able to get through these past years? Is Nic still struggling with addition and recovery? I look forward to reading Nic's book, "Tweak" to see the other side of the story.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Well written!!!

I couldn't put it down, its was sad throughout the book but very well written.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Shelby

Hey everyone

1 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

A Beautiful Insight On A Father/Son Problem! A Must Read!

Not only was this book hard to put down, but it was an amazing perspective into what no parent would ever want to run into. David Sheff's problem came when he found marijuana in his 12 year old son, Nic, jeans. This was the first warning sign into what would become a serious drug problem. But with the trust that comes with being a parent, Sheff didn't believe anything more would happen when Nic told him that he would never do it again. Six years later though, Nic became an addict of methamphetamine. In this book you get the hard and raw truth of what it's truly like to be in the shoes of a parent trying to control a child's problem. Not in any other book will you be literally placed in someone else's life and feel the pain and distraught that David Sheff had felt with his son and his problem. I would recommend this amazing book to pretty much anyone because David Sheff nailed it. For me being a teenager, it really put me in a position of what a parent would be like because of how Sheff's voice and imagery in the book was so key to understanding the pain he went through. Sheff is very personal and open about every story he tells and what he feels like he did wrong on trying to stop and help Nic. It really sends out a message that the drug methamphetamine is a really serious drug and shouldn't be pursued by anyone. With having the feeling that you were in Sheff's shoes made you really think of what it'd be like to go through this problem and can really help you in the future with what and what not to do if you have children that could potentially have this problem. If you really want the other perspective of the story from Nic's side, you should read Tweak. It goes into detail of what Sheff did not, like the absences Nic had for week's at a time. This book was very well written and I give Sheff major props for being so open about a major problem. He didn't hesitate once with any of the stories of how it affected him or his family. I give this book five out of five stars because of the effort Sheff put into this book in researching and knowing every single detail that happened through Nic's stages of life.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Blinders....get your blinders here....

I found this book to be annoying, almost whiny. I don't know how any parent could see their child through such a totally uncritical lens; no child is so completely golden as Sheff believes his was. His contention that this came out of left field means to me that he was simply not paying attention, absorbed as he was in some fantasy version of his chid. The effect of his divorce on Nic is shrugged off; when Nic starts exhibiting the classic signs of drug use Sheff is very busy looking the other way in preparation for some heavy-duty handwringing later on. I'd be interested in reading Nic's book, hoping for some balance.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Father vs. Writer

Disappointment although I know the writer is an intelligent man this book that should have been so personal lacked feeling for me as a parent. He also skipped over many details about his sons' addiction. There were times that I did cry but those occasions were far and few between and most of the time it read like a text book. I have had addiction in my family and the book just left me lacking feeling

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Enlightening, Heartbreaking read. Couldn't put it down!

Saw father and son at a conference a year ago and read the book immediately. The book is very educational for professionals and families. It is easy to read and understand the heartbreak of mental illness and substance use disorders. A clinician I know uses the father's book as a part of education for those in therapy. Everyone should read this to truly undersand.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

An incredibly good read.

It was as if David Sheff had been a fly on the wall in my own home, the way he recounts the conversations he had with his son. They were so like the conversations (yelling matches?) I had with my teenaged son. Poignant, heartbreaking, hopeful. All of the above. Plus, the entire time I was reading, John Lennon's beautiful melody floated through my head.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing

I really liked this book alot, i felt as though he was able to capture his love for his son and addiction in a ways that could make anyone understand the difficulty of loving an addict.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Beautiful Boy is an amazing journey

David Sheff and his familys story is heart-wrenching and scary to think of when you realize it's all true and could happen to anyone. Once you pick it up you can not put it down. I laughed at the irony and the silliness of a young father and eventually a single parent. I cried at the loss felt at having to make descisions that went against how a person is taught to raise a child knowing it was the only way to save the child that is loved. This is an amazing journey of a man and father and family.

It took courage and love to write the story and then to have it published and printed for all to read. Every parent should read this book... Especially those who think it could never happen to them.

You must read the son's perspective as well and then wrap your head around the entire experience. These books will move you.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing book!

This book was such an insight into the web of addiction. I work with juvenile offenders who sometimes have addictions of their own, and to be able to read what parents go through provides an idea of how life must be like for those parents. The decisions David had to make as a parent as far as helping his son were nothing short of dedication and devotion as a parent.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a powerful and honest examination of the author¿s relati

This is a powerful and honest examination of the author’s relationship with his addicted son Nic as well as the journey and decisions the author and his family made to get Nic clean and off drugs. Though the subject can be difficult to deal with and read, I appreciate the honesty and transparency of the author.

His Failure?

As a recovering addict, reading some parts of this was like someone throwing cold water in my face. Am I always going to be considered a loser? A lowlife? A undesireable? My ego does'nt even want to entertain those thoughts! I'm a very emotionally retarded 55 years.of age. Some people, my one and only son included, sometimes look at me and shake there heads" when is she going to quit being a kid?" But I'll tell you one thing, young minded or not, I think I'm finally getting it. I really do desire to live my life like a "normal" person. You know have an income (well,I always had a great work ethic, Thank God) Or else I would have been commiting "grand larceny" as my father so aptly put it. I want to bring my credit rating up, buy a little home, so I have something for my boy. One thing I noticed about this man that wrote this, is why did he consider it his failure? Was that his ego talking? I do remember times where my Dad would look at me, and he'd tell me he was sorry, and I'd say"what for dad?" And he'd tell me because he felt that his DNA was responsible for my addiction. My Dad's father was an alcoholic. These were the times that I felt bad for my dad. My Dad was the best! This guy was looking at this addiction problem w/his son from an intellectual's point of view. That's what I saw or felt. All I know is that when I was actively using (heroin) there were a couple of people around that could make me feel 2.54cm tall, and my Dad was never one of them. I almost feel like saying "Amen"

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Meh

As a recovering addict myself, the book is a mixed bag for me. It deals with a difficult subject, addiction. However, author spends waaay too much time waxing on of how wonderful his life was, how fabulous his son was....he lived in a bubble. All parents believe thar about their children - just ask me about mine. Lol Does he really believe addiction cares how smart, gifted, athletic someone is? Sheff comes across as believing his family, his son, was/is too charmed to be harms way.

While I believe Sheff does an excellent job of sharing his feelings and gut-wrenching dispair, I couldn't help but hear the overall tone of why me, why us. It became annoying and I flipped to the back and called it done.

BDAY PARTY AT

Hope res.5.

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Amazing

This book has inspired me. I am/was glad i found this book it taught me to never do drugs.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.