Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

Synopsis: Nic Sheff was drunk for the first time at age eleven, and since then his life has been one drug and one rehab center after another.

Review: Tweak is an authentic, to use Nic's own word, memoir about his life on pot, meth, crack and heroin. It's not an easy book to read.  Much like Nic's highs and lows, it sometimes spirals out of control.  It's hard to keep the cast of characters straight, but I can also appreciate how this makes the reader understand better what it is to be addicted to drugs.  Even when Nic is shooting himself up, he's often telling himself that he doesn't want to do drugs anymore.  His thought process is completely rational.  That kind of blew my mind.  I would think the cravings would block all coherent thought from an addict's head, but Nic knows that drugs make his life disgustingly pathetic and lonely.  Still, he does them.  Even after he gets clean for 18 months, he still goes back to them.  He learned from a woman in Sober Living that "addiction is a disease of amnesia."  I think that's a pretty cool and accurate statement.  It also made me think of childbirth.  You truly do forget the pain of labor so it's completely understandable to me that you might forget all the bad crap that happens while you're on drugs and detoxing afterward.  Yes, Nic's life on drugs sucks, but having to live with himself sober is also pretty daunting and disheartening.  He has to remember how much he hurt his family and friends and himself.  That's a major guilt trip to face every day.  At the end of the book, Nic is again on the path to clean living, and I certainly hope he stays there. 

I also hope that Tweak isn't overshadowed by Nic's father's book, Beautiful Boy, which also details Nic's addiction.  I can already see that David Sheff's book is getting more media attention.  It's even the Starbucks' book right now.  Having said this and even though it's not a children's book, I will likely review it next for the site.  It will certainly be interesting to read a different perspective on Nic's story, and hopefully by reviewing both books, more people will be encouraged to read both accounts.

If you appreciated this memoir, you might also enjoy The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon.

Comments

[Krystal Lynn]

Please respond to my email. I read your book and it was amazing. just want to chat. I have some questions for you. Just need advice.

Thanks,
K

[heroin addiction treatment]

It has been claimed that sustained use of heroin for as little as three days can cause withdrawal symptoms to appear if use is stopped, & the myth that just one shot will hook you for life has been one of the many sensationalist claims made about the drug, and a belief in its overwhelming ability to addict anyone who tries it one of the main justifications for heroin's continuing prohibition. thanks for this post.

-jomie-

[california sober living]

Even when Nic is shooting himself up, he's often telling himself that he doesn't want to do drugs anymore,with this incident its better that it a good lesson to us.

cletsey