Review of Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through his Son's Addiction by David Sheff

This is the story of a well-educated, upper middle class family that struggles through their son’s addiction. It is one of the most candid memoirs that I have ever read. The book takes you through the continuing emotional roller coasters of denial and recognition, hope and resignation, and control and lack of control faced by the father of a son who is an addict. Sheff, the author and the father, makes you feel the guilt, frustration, fear, heart break, and helplessness that a parent faces when desperately trying to help his son end his addiction. It takes time but he painfully learns the lesson that he did not cause the addiction and that he cannot cure his son’s addiction. He can only continue to love him. The memoir shows how addiction affects the entire family, including the younger brother and sister. Sheff also spends much time on educating the reader about methamphetamine (crystal meth) and its extremely addictive qualities. It is interesting to point out that this family had access to resources to help their son, while many families do not. How do those families deal with this? This memoir is a well-worth the read. I note that I have yet to see the movie based upon the book.