Beautiful Boy

A Father's Journey through His Son's Meth Addiction

By: David Sheff

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The #1 New York Times best-selling story of addiction and a father’s love: “A brilliant, harrowing, heartbreaking, fascinating story, full of beautiful moments and hard-won wisdom. This book will save a lot of lives and heal a lot of hearts.”—Anne Lamott

Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet.

What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted every moment of David Sheff’s journey through his son’s drug addiction. David’s story is a first: a teenager’s addiction from the parent’s point of view—a real-time chronicle of the shocking descent into substance abuse and the gradual emergence into hope.

Before meth, Sheff’s son, Nic, was a varsity athlete, honor student, and award-winning journalist. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied, stole money from his eight-year-old brother, and lived on the streets. With poignant candor, Sheff traces the first warning signs—denial, 3 a.m. phone calls—the attempts at rehabilitation, and, at last, the way past addiction. He shows us that, whatever an addict’s fate, the rest of the family must care for one another too, lest they become addicted to addiction.

Beautiful Boy is a fiercely candid memoir that brings immediacy to the emotional rollercoaster of loving a child who seems beyond help.

You can also hear Sheff's son's perspective in his memoir: Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.

©2007 David Sheff (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Sheff does not spare himself or anyone else from keen professional scrutiny any more than he was himself spared the pains and joys of watching a loved one struggling with addiction and recovery....This is an honest, hopeful book, coming at a propitious moment in the meth epidemic." ( Publishers Weekly)

new perspective on addiction

This was a great, but scary story about addiction through a father's eyes. I cried a lot.

So Powerful

This story is beautiful. It's written in a way that keeps you engaged the whole time. At first the father reflects his son's childhood, bringing you as a parent to reflect on your own child as a kid. Then he goes into the teen years and then the addiction starts. The thing that I really made me give this book a perfect review is the balance between HIS story and the way he dug deep into addiction, learning about it and explaining it along the way. He explains how he learned as much as he could on the subject and really spends time teaching you as you go on this journey with him. I became so engulfed in this book that I found myself FEELING physical heaviness while he was trudging through this addiction with his son. As a mother of an addict I shed many tears through this book, I could relate. This book does come out with a more positive take on COPING with an addicted child and emphasizes the importance of taking care of YOU as a parent. I'd recommend this book, even if you do not have an addict in your life. It's beautifully written and powerful.

Perfect Match!

I have found that when listening to a book, the narrator can make the story come alive-or once I returned a book simply because the narrator was so tedious and bored-I could no longer listen as all I heard was blah,blah blah, and Not the story unfolding. Anthony Heald read with such authenticity, such perfect timing, pitch, and (grace?) that I was swept away with the words, emotions and characters. I want Him to Read to Me Again! Is that normal? I also have experienced being wrapped up in someone else's addiction, but never have I been able to express the feelings of love, panic, frustration and fear the way David Sheff has written. beautiful boy is the best author/narrator match Ever!

Loved it

Scary, sad, beautiful, informative! Well read. I saw the movie and wanted a little more info. This is a great read.

Totally engaging!

I was skeptical about this book at first and it did take a chapter or two to get into it but then I found myself wanting to know more about David and his family. I TOTALLY disagree with the previous reviews that said negative things about the narrator, I thought he was GREAT!! I laughed outloud when he did the voices for Daisy and Jasper and found myself drawn to the sound of his voice. Thank you David Sheff for allowing us into your world and I know this book is a few years old, I find myself wondering what became of Nick.

superb yet sad

if anyone in your family or yourself have suffered with addiction this may, just may help to let people into a little insight of how vile it is, how intelligent you can be, how much you don't want to do it and the stigma that goes with it or rather back in the 80's even my family ostricised me! Mine was alcohol.... they gave me a night to live - i made it but was told i would never walk again.... I beat it, have never drank since --- 20 years ago

Heart Changing Read

This book caught my attention under "recommended"/"Included" audio books in my Audible app because I was so moved by the short movie trailer of the film that recently came out based on the book by the same title. I have not yet watched the movie, but this book was absolutely excellent. Entering into the highs and lows of David Sheff's experience with his son was good for my soul. He brought me to questions and quandaries about life and relationships that I certainly have not come close to needing to face in my own life yet, though I can feel them through Sheff. I was challenged ethically, morally, spiritually, and emotionally.
This is a memoir, so the storyline is real-life. When reading it you may long for a climax (high or low, depending on how you take your drama), but Sheff's story is continuous. His story's highs and lows are unpredictable, inconvenient, irritating, infuriating, and never when you want them. This is real life in the trenches of unthinkably difficult parenting. Reading this review may inspire you to turn to a different book, but don't. This book was concretely good for me. I am setting it down completed and remorseful. I wish it could go on somehow. I know that the Sheff family's lives go on... and now I find myself praying for them often, and for my young son.
This book encouraged my passion for humanity, empathy, and courage. It encouraged my prayers, my hopes, and my gratitude most of all. The bright points of Sheff's life drew my attention to the bright points of my own--they are so poetically and rhythmically remembered. The dark parts of his story increased my patience for my own comparatively shallow lows, and my capacity to wait and abide with others in their own valleys.
The only major lack I found in his book was in its epilogue. Sheff resolves and ties up his points of view on all the relationships he introduced us to in his story except for one. He resolves things with Vicki, makes resolves for his relationship with Nic, with Karen, Jasper, Daisy, and most poignantly with himself, but he never does so with God. God whom he mysteriously found himself talking to often and asking so much from, he doesn't mention a word about his relationship with him in the end (though he does state some important theological maxims about life and human responsibility which have everything to do with God). Other than that, he tied it up well. 
I look forward to seeing Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet's performance of this true story on film.
Excellent book*****

Also, Anthony Heald did a superb job in narration with speed, pace, inclination, and voice adjustment for each character. I hope to find his reads again!

good information on addiction

well done story with human details, but, not too much. brave father to share this.

Great read...

everybody knows somebody that has addiction (and it comes in many forms) in their life...

Sad but beautiful

Really touching loved it. Can’t wait for the movie. 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙 great love love love read it.