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A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
by David Sheff
What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted David Sheff's journey through his son Nic's addiction to drugs and tentative steps toward recovery.
Before Nic became addicted to crystal meth, he was a charming boy, joyous and funny, a varsity athlete and honor student adored by his two younger siblings. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied, stole, and lived on the streets.
David Sheff traces the first warning signs: the denial, the three a.m. phone calls' - is it Nic? the police? the hospital? His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself. But as a journalist, he instinctively researched every treatment that might save his son. And he refused to give up on Nic.
#1 New York Times bestseller
"Filled with compelling anecdotes and important insights ... An eye-opening memoir." - Washington Post
"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 Starred
"Those of us who love an addict ' - or are addicts ourselves ' - will find Beautiful Boy a revelation." - Martin Sheen, actor
"A welcome balm to millions…who thought they were making this journey alone." - Armistead Maupin, author of The Night Listener
"This book is going to save a lot of lives, and help heal…hearts." - Anne Lamott, author of Grace (Eventually)
"…moving, timely, and sobering. It's also startlingly beautiful." - Sir Richard Branson, chairman, Virgin Group
"An extraordinary story of pain, perseverance and hope." ' - William C. Moyers, author of Broken
"When one of us tells the truth, he makes it easier for all of us to open our hearts to our own pain and that of others.' That's ultimately what Beautiful Boy is about: truth and healing." - Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia
This information about Beautiful Boy was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Bart Nagel
David Sheff is the author of multiple books including the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Beautiful Boy, which was recently turned into a movie starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Outside, Rolling Stone, Wired, Fortune, and elsewhere. His piece for the New York Times, "My Addicted Son," received an award from the American Psychological Association for Outstanding Contribution to Advancing the Understanding of Addictions.
Sheff graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives with his family in Northern California.
Every good journalist has a novel in him - which is an excellent place for it.
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