Tweak by Nic Sheff

I just finished reading Tweak by Nic Sheff. It's a pretty gritty (true) story about a guy who becomes addicted to crystal meth. It's interesting because Nic comes from such an interesting family. His mother is an editor for Newsweek, his father, David Sheff, is a well-known writer who has written a few books as well as contributed numerous articles to Playboy, Newsweek, and other publications, and his stepmother is the illustrator Karen Barbour. Nic was actually published in Newsweek at 16 when he wrote an article for the 'My Turn' column about his life as a child of divorce and what it was like to be shuttled back and forth between his mother and father. Overall, the book is tough to read because it's so brutally honest. You get all the gory details of how Nic almost lost his arm due to an infection from a dirty needle, how he turned to prostitution to earn drug money, and how he stooped so low as to steal from his 8 year old brother. It's especially heartbreaking to read because it's blatantly obvious that Nic is a good, kind, loving, creative, and talented boy, which makes it all that much more difficult to reconcile that side of him with the frightening shell that he becomes throughout his drug use. I ended this read hoping that Nic will defy the odds and remain sober because I would love to read more from him. I liked his honesty and writing style. I'm currently in the middle of David Sheff's book, Beautiful Boy, which tells essentially the same story, but from the father's point of view. So far I'm enjoying it just as much Tweak, but I'll write more when I'm finished with it.