Total Page : 200
Publisher : Blackstone Audio Inc
Publication Date : 2008 02 26
>> Haunting
This book hit me so hard as both a high school teacher and a new parent I was so saddened to hear Mr Sheff s heartbreak about his son Nick Further I really felt that he honestly underestimated the gravity of Nick s situation until it was too late I read this book over six months ago and parts of it still move me as I see drug addled young adults around my town and think of how their parents must be suffering I also began to better understand how hard it must be to actually cut off your own child I always thought tough love would be less devastating than it truly seems to be I recommend this book because it does not provide easy answers or suggestions just hard honest truth
>> An Amazingly Sad Journey
Written by David Sheff this book is the perspective of a father as he deals with his son s plunge into the world of drug addiction dealing with Meth and what it entails for the entire family
Nic was an intelligent boy Beyond intelligent he was gifted He did all of the things that you would want and hope that your son would do It was unfortunate as David and his wife couldn t make their marriage work and at a young age for Nic they divorced To make matters worse the divorce was volatile and while they lived in the Bay Area of San Francisco David s ex wife upon finalizing the divorce ended up moving to LA Nic stays with David during the school year but spends a lot of the holidays and summer down in LA with his mom I having recently gone through a divorce that was anything but cordial and having three children closely associated with a lot of what this family went through
Nic held his own in the beginning but like all children was approached with the temptation of doing drugs and drinking further instigated during a trip to France and like a lot of kids failed in his choices He started out with pot moved on to experiment in other areas ending up with Meth as his drug of choice Nic went to a private school was on the swim team had excellent grades and was what we would all hope our children might be during those early years As he struggled with his adolescence and dealing with the pressures of middle and high school he like so many of us felt uncomfortable without the aid of some help
As Nic began his struggle with drugs and sank deeper and deeper into his own personal hell David along with his new wife and two new children soon discovered that drug addiction is not a personal struggle but one that a family must face together I am sure that I would feel the same way as David did struggling with self doubt and constantly self guessing one s decision while looking for somebody to blame for this abysmal fall Who really understands why anyone becomes addicted So many kids make the choice to try drugs and are able to deal with them in an isolated case while so many can t ever get beyond that downward spiral lacking the ability to say no once the bridge has been crossed
This is a story of a family s struggle to help one of its own deal with all of the baggage that comes with addiction as well as all the family struggles that come with normal life You feel the pain of Nic and of David and of their entire family as Nic makes it through one rehab only to fall back again then into another rehab re living the cycle over and over and over again You feel the hell that David faces as he becomes obsessed with Nic and what he can or cannot do to help his son
I read several books and enjoy a wide variety of different genres and can only say for those of you with kids or with kids who have a drug problem or are parents or just about anyone this is a fantastic book Nic has now written a book from his perspective of life on drugs entitled Tweak and I will be reading that one very soon as well I couldn t give a book a higher recommendation Pick it up when you have a few hours as it will be difficult to put down but be prepared as it is a gut wrenching story of a family and their battle against a force that is not easily fought
>> Very Good
I guess you never know what to expect when you buy a book but I have been pleasantly surprised Besides telling the story the details of the physiological effects of drugs is very educational And the psychological effects Mr Sheff and I m sure his whole family have been through are heart wrenching I have so much compasion for their pain
