View source for Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

{{short description|2008 memoir by David Sheff}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = Beautiful Boy: A
Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = Beautiful boy book cover.jpg
| caption = Cover of ''Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction''
| author        = David Sheff
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  =
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        =
| subject       =
| genre         =
| publisher     = [[Houghton Mifflin]]
| pub_date      = February 26, 2008
| english_pub_date =
| media_type    = Hardcover
| pages         = 326
| isbn          = 978-0-618-68335-2
| dewey= 362.29/9 B 22
| congress= HV5831.C2 S54 2008
| oclc= 71005844
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   =
}}
'''''Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction''''' is a memoir by [[David Sheff]] that describes how his family dealt with his son [[Nic Sheff|Nic's]] [[methamphetamine]] addiction. It was published by [[Houghton Mifflin]] on February 26, 2008. The book grew out of the article "My Addicted Son"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/magazine/my-addicted-son.html|title=My Addicted Son|first=David|last=Sheff|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 February 2005|publisher=|accessdate=9 November 2018|archive-date=24 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424002820/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/magazine/my-addicted-son.html|url-status=live}}</ref> that Sheff had written for ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' in 2005.<ref name = NYT1>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/books/review/Morrice-t.html?scp=2&sq=beautiful%20boy&st=cse He Said, He Said]. New York Times, Sunday Book Reviews. Polly Morrice. February 24, 2008.</ref> Son Nic Sheff's perspective was told in his own memoir ''Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Sheff|first=Nic|title=Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines|publisher=Atheneum|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4169-7219-8}}</ref> published concurrently by an imprint of [[Simon & Schuster]].<ref name="NYT2">{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=2008-02-21 |title=When Addicted Son Hurts, Father Feels His Own Pain |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/books/21masl.html |access-date=2024-04-24 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Content==
''Beautiful Boy'' covers a substantial portion of Nic's life and deals with the elder Sheff's struggles of how to respond to a son whom he loves but who is also a danger to his family. Nic, then a senior in high school, steals money from his younger siblings and gets arrested for possession in front of them, leading Sheff to install a security system to prevent Nic from breaking in.<ref name=Salon>[http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/03/01/beautiful_boy/ My beautiful, drug-addicted boy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424003826/https://www.salon.com/2008/03/01/beautiful_boy/ |date=2024-04-24 }}. Salon. Katharine Mieszkowski. March 1, 2008.</ref> Nic attends many rehabs throughout the memoir, and even with those he relapses many times. The longest stretch of sobriety Nic had, prior to his last relapse in the memoir, was almost two years. He then relapsed once again and went into treatment. By the end of the memoir Sheff tells us that Nic has been sober one year. He hopes with all his heart that this will be the last time, and believes in him once again. But in his mind he knows that a relapse can easily happen again and that it will be very difficult for Nic, his family, and himself. Another theme throughout the memoir is Sheff wondering about how much he is to blame and what he could have done to prevent his son's addiction.<ref name = Salon />
Throughout the memoir Sheff attends numerous Al-Anon Meetings and therapy sessions. In these different sessions he is continually told of the three Cs: you did not cause it, you cannot control it, and you cannot cure it. Sheff has a difficult time accepting these statements throughout the memoir. At the end, however, he says that he has come to accept two of the Cs, that he cannot control it, and he cannot cure it. He realizes that he has done everything he can do to try to help Nic, and knows that it is up to Nic to figure things out if he is to fully recover.
== Reception ==
''Beautiful Boy'' became a critical and commercial success. It reached #1 on the [[New York Times Best Seller List|''New York Times'' Best Sellers List]] on April 6, 2008, and again on May 4, 2008. ''Entertainment Weekly'' named it the #1 Best Nonfiction Book of 2008,{{Cn|date=April 2024}} and it won the [[Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award]] for nonfiction in 2008.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Awards 2008 |url=https://www.bookreporter.com/features/awards/barnes-noble-discover-great-new-writers-awards-2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826051016/http://www.bookreporter.com/features/awards/barnes-noble-discover-great-new-writers-awards-2008 |archive-date=2017-08-26 |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=Bookreporter.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":17">{{Cite web |date=2009-03-05 |title=Awards: B&N Discover Great New Writers; Florida Book Awards |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=872 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923142436/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=872 |archive-date=September 23, 2021 |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=[[Shelf Awareness]]}}</ref> [[Amazon.com]] selected it as one of the "Best Books of 2008",{{Cn|date=April 2024}} and [[Starbucks]] picked it as one of the few books it would sell in its coffee shops.<ref name = NYT2 />
==''Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines''==
''Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines'' is a follow-up book and autobiographical memoir written by the son [[Nic Sheff]] personally about his own ordeal. It was published as hardcover by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 336 pages in February 2008 ({{ISBN|9781416913627}}) and later in paperback on January 6, 2009. It became a ''New York Times'' and ''USA Today'' bestselling memoir in its own right.
Nic also wrote his follow-up book ''We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction'' in 2011.
==Film adaptation==
{{Main|Beautiful Boy (2018 film)}}
A [[Beautiful Boy (2018 film)|film adaptation]] directed by [[Felix van Groeningen]], and starring [[Steve Carell]] as David Sheff and [[Timothée Chalamet]] as Nic Sheff, was released on October 12, 2018, by [[Amazon Studios]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/02/timothee-chalamet-steve-carell-beautiful-boy-drug-addiction-movie-release-date-1202290484/|title=Steve Carell & Timothée Chalamet Title 'Beautiful Boy' Sets Fall Release|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|date=February 15, 2018|accessdate=February 15, 2018|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401042734/https://deadline.com/2018/02/timothee-chalamet-steve-carell-beautiful-boy-drug-addiction-movie-release-date-1202290484/|url-status=live}}</ref> It is based on both books ''Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction'' by David Sheff and ''Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines'' by Nic Sheff. The screenplay was adapted from the books by [[Luke Davies]] and director [[Felix van Groeningen]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/magazine/06ADDICT.html?scp=1&sq=david%20sheff%202005&st=cse My Addicted Son]. Original New York Times Magazine article by David Sheff, February 6, 2005.
{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = ''[[Losing It (book)|Losing It]]''<br> by [[Valerie Bertinelli]]
| title  = #1 [[New York Times Best Seller list|'''New York Times''' Best Seller]] [[New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers of 2008|Non-Fiction]] (first run)
| years  = April 6, 2008
| after  = ''[[Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope|Mistaken Identity]]''<br> by Don and Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak, with Mark Tabb
}}
{{succession box
| before = ''[[Home: A Memoir of My Early Years|Home]]''<br> by [[Julie Andrews]]
| title  = #1 [[New York Times Best Seller list|'''New York Times''' Best Seller]] [[New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers of 2008|Non-Fiction]] (second run)
| years  = April 27, 2008
| after  = ''[[Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea]]''<br> by [[Chelsea Handler]]
}}
{{s-end}}
[[Category:Memoirs about drugs]]
[[Category:2008 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Houghton Mifflin books]]
[[Category:Memoirs adapted into films]]