Book: "Beautiful Boy"

Mikey

Psycho Gorilla Dad
"David Sheff's Beautiful Boy chronicles his teenage son's descent into crystal-meth addiction. Nic, a well-loved boy with seemingly everything going for him, brings his family down with him - his addiction becoming their obsession as they wonder what sort of limits their love should have...

Not sure I'm ready to read something like this yet, but I thought some of 'yall might be interested.

http://beta.bordersstores.com/online/store/ArticleView_beautifulboy

Excerpt:
Like many in my straits, I became addicted to my child's addiction. When it preoccupied me, even at the expense of my responsibilities to my wife and other children, I justified it. I thought, How can a parent not be consumed by his child's life-or-death struggle? But I learned that my preoccupation with Nic didn't help him and may have harmed him. Or maybe it was irrelevant to him. However, it surely harmed the rest of my family — and me. Along with this, I learned another lesson, a terrifying one: our children live or die with or without us. No matter what we do, no matter how we agonize or obsess, we cannot choose for our children whether they live or die. It is a devastating realization, but also liberating. I finally chose life for myself. I chose the perilous but essential path that allows me to accept that Nic will decide for himself how — and whether — he will live his life.

It's interesting that there's a companion book by his son, Nic, called "Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines". It seems to tell the same story from his son's perspective.

http://beta.bordersstores.com/online/store/ArticleView_tweak

Mikey
 

janebrain

New Member
Hi Mikey,
I really like the excerpt from the book that you posted. This book sounds like a really good one for you to get hold of! Thanks for sharing,
Jane
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
This is on my reading list. Both of them. They sound very good.

Glad to see you come across this. Keep looking.

Many hugs.
 
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