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

Very helpful and readable

As the father of a young adult with a debilitating chemical dependency problem, I found that reading this open description of David Sheff?s painful attempt at learning to live with his son?s difficult life helpful and, in some strange way, hopeful. I strongly recommend it to anyone with an addict in their life.

Great book hard read

It's a hard read if you have a child in this situation but extremely informative and ultimately hopeful.

touching, insightful and informative

What a beautiful story...how deeply a father cares for his son. It was touching and insightful as well as informative. Thank God, I never had to deal with a child's addiction but it made me appreciate how close we actually came as a family in having to deal with such a powerful issue.

I read this book a year ago. Since then I've given it to others whenever I've become aware that they are the parents of someone whose has a meth addiction. I spent 15 years as the parent of two children who were addicted. Having personal experience of the angst, I cried at times as I read and remembered, at a deep emotional level, the trauma involved. The author is exceptionally articulate. As I read the story of his experience with with is son, I literally felt again the sense of terror that was involved in not knowing whether my son or daughter would survive. The story is enriched by his sharing of valuable and encouraging information from the research he sought out during his journey. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to deepen his or her understanding of the complexities involved for individuals and families caught up in the cultural epidemic that meth addiction represents.

Difficult But Must Read for Parents of an Addict

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff was given to me by a friend who works in the drug addiction services arena. She figured that it would be therapeutic for me as my son was an addict for ten years and has maintained sobriety for the past two years. Little did I know how reading Beautiful Boy would bring up raw nerves that I thought had been dealt with in the past.
David Sheff is an excellent writer. The reader is quickly captured by this story of a father and son who obviously love each other and who both have incredible passion and excitement for the world in which we live. The author has also included a lot of data from professionals to do with drug use, abuse, addiction, therapies and pharmacological facts which help to bring credibility to the battle that ensues.
The only negative comment that I have regarding this book is that I felt that the author became a victim verses the survivor mentality that was present for all but the last few chapters. Upon completion of the read, I immediately went on Alibris to order Nic's book, Tweek, so that I could read about the other side of the equation.
Would highly recommend to any reader. Drug addition effects so many of us that it is impossible to invision anyone who could not learn something helpful in the process of reading Beautiful Boy.