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

By David Sheff

A grueling and heartbreaking read. I think it is fair to say that just about everyone I know has had a drug addict in their life in some capacity. We are all affected by this insane siege of evil that seems to be destroying families everywhere. I admire Sheff's candid writing and found his journey riveting and disturbing. It is agonizing to go through each triumph and each relapse in the book. It tears at your heart. His denial, his guilt and his struggle to believe in hope is hard to read. Sheff battles his own demons as he tried to save his son and comes to understand and accept the disease of addiction.

The story is a little too long and after awhile I just wanted to stop reading about another relapse but I guess that just adds to the poignancy of the story. That is the journey that the loved one of an addict often has to take, over and over. I kind of want to read his son Nick's book about the same journey but I'm not sure I can handle the details.