I've been devouring David Sheff's moving and harrowing account of his son Nic's struggle with addiction. The title is drawn from the John Lennon song of the same name.
Nic, by all accounts, is a sweet, talented, quirky and loving son and brother. That is until his disease kicks in. Then he becomes a lying, stealing, cheating, over-promising and under-delivering menace to himself and society.
Nic's drug of choice is methamphetamine, alternately known as meth, crystal, ice, crank and glass.
Early on he abused booze, pot, coke and other drugs, but when he found meth, it was like he'd met up with an old friend. It's one of the easiest drugs to get hooked on, and one of the hardest to give up.
What makes Nic's story even more tragic is that with each period of sobriety -- one month, a year and a half, a couple of weeks -- Nic's disease consumes him and he's off again on a destructive path.
David Sheff is a beautiful writer, who captures the pain of realizing that he's powerless over his son's addiction. Of course he had some help in that arena from the good people of Al-Anon. Like most, he came to Al-Anon after literally trying everything, and hitting his own personal bottom.
I haven't finished the book yet. I'm almost afraid to.
1 comment:
I picked this book up at the store a while ago and almost bought it. Having a 14 year old son, I was too afraid of it and put it back.
I'll read it only if it has a happy ending.
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