Synopsis: Beautiful Boy is David Sheff's memoir, detailing his son Nic's addiction to meth. For my last posting, I reviewed Tweak, which was Nic Sheff's young adult memoir about his addiction.
Review: Having read both of these books back to back, I have to say that I'm in awe that both Nic and his Dad were courageous enough to write these memoirs. For Nic, you can say that both books might serve as reminders of why he doesn't want to start using again, but for David Sheff I'm not sure what he gets out of it. Sure, it might provide other families dealing with addiction some answers as to how to cope with this horrible disease, but as David himself points out, there are no clear-cut remedies for curing someone of this particular malady. I know that David repeats several times that writing gave him solace, but I find it incredibly brave that he could put the story out there for all the world to read.
The big difference between the two memoirs is that Tweak is very fast-paced. Tweak is the car wreck you can't help staring at on the highway. I couldn't fathom the things Nic was doing to himself or his family and friends, but I couldn't stop reading his story either. I read it in a day. Beautiful Boy is much slower and often times repetitive. David Sheff's story is one of fearful anticipation and waiting. Waiting to hear from the police about Nic's latest crime. Waiting to hear from the hospital to see if Nic survived the night. Waiting to hear from Nic to know that he is alive. It took three days for me to read Beautiful Boy. I just couldn't stay inside David Sheff's anguish for too long at a time. David really loves his son, and Nic really loves his father, but against methamphetamines, their love is just not strong enough. All David Sheff can do is cautiously hope that his son will be one of the ones to beat his addiction. All David Sheff can do is "step back, be supportive, but let Nic's recovery be his recovery as we work on creating healthy, as Nic describes them, loving and supportive but independent relationships." He has no choice but to let his beautiful boy go and find his own life.
