Beautiful Boy, by David Sheff, is a true story of a father's struggle with his son's addiction.
David Sheff documents his and his son's journey through addiction in his book Beautiful Boy. The
book is heart wrenching as Sheff begins his novel by describing his son, Nic, they way he was as a
child. He was charming and genuine, but as he descended into drugs, Nic became closed off, lied to
his parents, and ran away from home. Sheff elaborately describes his experiences with late night
phone calls, hospital visits, and attempts at recovery.
Beautiful Boy is written without extravagance. It is a genuine story of a father's journey as he
struggled to understand. Beautiful Boy is difficult to read at times, simply because of the content.
However, it has provided hope for others who struggle with an addicted child and allows parents to
feel as if they are not alone in their journey. Beautiful Boy is a must read for everyone because it will
expand the readers understanding of drug use and how it affects so many people in the world, even
those who it may not seem obvious that it does. I appreciate that Beautiful Boy does not attempt to
embellish the truth, it simply lays the facts out the way that they are.