Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
Book Review: Only half the story
Summary: 1 Stars
Wow, amazing that the young girl from NY mentioned The Lost Years, I was thinking the same thing. Like the woman from NY I also read The Lost Years, last year. I am a person in recovery with five and half years of sobriety. As I said in my review for The Lost Years, I did and do recommend The Lost Years to all my students and colleagues as it was the finest piece of literature on addiction, I have ever read and as a PhD I read veraciously. This year I read Beautiful Boy. David Sheff is a great writer and an impressive story teller. His journey through his son's addiction is heartbreaking and compelling. His story will help many people. Unfortunately for Beautiful Boy it is frustrating as it is only one side of the story, and I will not buy his sons book, due to lack of free time. For my students The Lost Years is the only book I will recommend as it saves them the $20 they have to pay for the `other' side of the story. I suppose it was smart for the publisher to print two different books to tell the same story but for families and individuals who need inspiration, insight and hope quickly, The Lost Years, with both sides in one book, is the only way to go. The Lost Years, with the mother daughter story side by side, will be on the shelf for years to come.
Book Review: I am in college and starbucks..
Summary: 2 Stars
I went to college this year. I have never been addicted and have never had addiction in my family. Normally I would never read such a book but last year I read The Lost Years by Kristina Wandzilak and Constance Curry, a mother daughter addiction story and it simply changed my life. It was the best book I have ever read and The Lost Years brought my family together in a very amazing way, as it gave us an opportunity to have a hard conversation about drugs and alcohol. And for a busy person like me, the fact that the mother daughter story was in one book, not two, was perfect. I read The Lost Years in two days, and therefore the whole story of addiction, not one side. However, as I spend many days in Starbucks, I bought Beautiful Boy and it was very well written. Clearly Mr. Sheff is a writer. The Lost Years is gritty, like a diary, and Mr. Sheffs writing is very polished. I will not buy his sons book, simply because I have too much else to do in my life, but it was a great story. It took two weeks to get through it, as I found it less compelling since it was only the father's perspective. I kept thinking, "I wonder what his son is thinking or feeling at this point?" I loved how The Lost Years was written with the mother daughter perspective, one after another, not in a separate book. Beautiful Boy and The Lost Years show me, a person never touched by addiction, that addiction can happen to a normal mother and daughter and to a family with a father who has interviewed the most famous musician that had ever lived.Book Review: Heartbreaking and Helpful
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a remarkably well-written story. It is also offers helpful advice--not so much for those who are wondering how to protect their children from drugs, but more for those who are struggling with loving a family member struggling with an addiction.
The story is absolutely riveting and heartbreaking. Like many other readers, I couldn't put it down. Even though it doesn't offer a great deal of advice about what parents can do to prevent their kids from using drugs, it makes all parents aware of the need to prepare themselves for whatever may come. It emphasizes the importance of having a plan to help your kids avoid the dangers of drugs, and, in the event the a child makes choices that harm them, having a plan to take care of yourself and the rest of your family.
Therefore, whether you want a great story or some practical advice, Beautiful Boy has both. Highly recommended.
Book Review: Compelling and Courageous
Summary: 5 Stars
David Sheff is a courageous man. Beautiful Boy is a great read, a horror story, and great reference material. It pulses with the unconditional love of a father in a way that makes me admire him and the guts it took to tell this story. For those of us with practicing and/or recovering alcoholics and addicts in our families, David's story is our story. Different drug, different town, different path....but same shame, frustration, anger, and the relentlessness of a disease with no bottom. I couldn't put this book down. Thank you, David Sheff, for your humanity and your gift of putting into words the unthinkable and the untouchable emotions in lives impacted by addiction.Book Review: great read
Summary: 5 Stars
I heard about this on Fresh Air and went out and picked it up that day. Sheff creates an amazing and terrible ride of emotion. Each chapter fades with something that piques your interest to continue making it impossible to put down.
I found this story insightful and moving. It will go a long way in helping others in the throes of addiction. Thanks for writing it!