
Beautiful Boy
A Father's Journey through His Son's Meth Addiction
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Narrated by:
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Anthony Heald
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By:
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David Sheff
About this listen
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
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- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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It would be easy to write a feminist polemic denouncing men. This is not that book. Something is definitely up with men. From millions who follow Jordan Peterson to the #MeToo backlash, from men's rights activists and incels to spiralling suicide rates, it's easy to see that, while men still rule the world, masculinity is in crisis.
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A long awaited gem
- By Łukasz on 03-11-24
By: Nina Power
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Strung Out
- One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me
- By: Erin Khar
- Narrated by: Jayme Mattler
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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This deeply personal and illuminating memoir about her 15-year struggle with heroin, Khar sheds profound light on the opioid crisis and gives a voice to the over two million people in America currently battling with this addiction. Growing up in LA, Erin Khar hid behind a picture-perfect childhood filled with excellent grades, a popular group of friends and horseback riding. After first experimenting with her grandmother’s expired painkillers, Khar started using heroin when she was thirteen.
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Surface material
- By blythe mayfield on 03-06-20
By: Erin Khar
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Should've Been Dead
- Lessons from a Crack Addict Who Broke Free
- By: Sweta Patel, Rory Londer
- Narrated by: Mark Garkusha, Samantha Sayah
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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After seventeen years of chasing after crack cocaine, Rory Londer was crushed by failure. He had loving parents and was on honor roll lists, but addiction is a switch that can flip inside anyone. He had eaten food from the trash bin and starved in ten-degree weather, trying to collect quarters for one more hit. Now he’s a millionaire, but this story is not a rags-to-riches tale. It’s about emerging from the shadows of guilt and shame.
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The BEST BOOK I’VE EVER READ/LISTENED TO.
- By Vanessa on 03-06-25
By: Sweta Patel, and others
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The Weight of Air
- A Story of the Lies About Addiction and the Truth About Recovery
- By: David Poses
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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While his wife and two-year-old daughter watched TV in the living room, David Poses was in the kitchen, measuring the distance from his index finger to his armpit. He needed to be sure he could pull the trigger with a shotgun barrel in his mouth. Twenty-six inches. Thirty-two years old. More than a decade in a double life fueled by depression and heroin.
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David’s story is invaluable
- By Kristy Aiken-Smith on 03-13-22
By: David Poses
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I Love You, More
- Short Stories of Addiction, Recovery, and Loss from the Family's Perspective
- By: Blake E. Cohen CAP
- Narrated by: Joe Hempel
- Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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I Love You, More offers insight into the various perspectives and experiences of family members who have dealt with the harrowing disease of addiction. The goal of this quick, accessible book is to be the conduit that allows you to enter the body and mind of a substance abuser and their family, to see the world through their eyes as they navigate their way through one of the most heart-breaking and gut-wrenching hardships they will ever face.
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Very good
- By Leslie Russell on 11-05-23
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Damaged Goods
- A Memoir
- By: Shelley Louise
- Narrated by: Jeanne Scurek
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a deeply personal story of a young woman’s journey through addiction; the loss of her child’s father through an overdose, her mother’s suicide, and the tragic consequences that those lifestyle choices bring. At 15, Shelley was submerged into the seedy world of the red-light district of Honolulu. As the warm-up act for the strippers, she became a topless dancer only to discover she was not emotionally prepared for the lewd attention. Pills and heroin helped her to cope with a lifestyle that was beyond her years.
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The narration was tough to listen to. The story was interesting but I had to stop listening mid way through.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-25
By: Shelley Louise
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Age of Opportunity
- Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence
- By: Laurence Steinberg Ph.D.
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Adolescence now lasts longer than ever before. And as world-renowned expert on adolescent psychology Dr. Laurence Steinberg argues, this makes these years the key period in determining individuals’ life outcomes, demanding that we change the way we parent, educate, and understand young people.
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if you think you know, think again
- By Dk on 12-11-14
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Drunk Mom
- A Memoir
- By: Jowita Bydlowska
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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A best seller in its native Canada, Drunk Mom is a gripping, brutally honest memoir of motherhood in the shadow of alcoholism. Three years after giving up drinking, Jowita Bydlowska found herself throwing back a glass of champagne like it was ginger ale. It was a special occasion: a party celebrating the birth of her first child. It also marked Bydlowska's immediate, full-blown return to crippling alcoholism.
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A not very lovely story that I love anyway.
- By Alixandra Hice on 01-12-15
By: Jowita Bydlowska
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How to Survive Change
- By: Joyce Meyer
- Narrated by: Joyce Meyer
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Transformation is a process we all will go through. It is sometimes long, and often painful. But the truth is, what we think is key during a time of change. A transformed life is preceded by a transformed mind. How we think about our journey may make the difference between 11 days or 40 years in the wilderness. Just ask the children of Israel. In this four-part series, Joyce uses examples from her own life, as well as some of life's ordinary, everyday tasks to offer hope and encouragement for your journey.
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Joyce does it again!
- By Kristine on 08-25-18
By: Joyce Meyer
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Yoko
- The Biography
- By: David Sheff
- Narrated by: Max Meyers
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Yoko’s life, independent of Lennon, was an amazing journey. Yoko spans from her birth to wealthy parents in pre-war Tokyo, her harrowing experience as a child during the war, her arrival in avant-garde art scene in London, Tokyo, and New York City. It delves into her groundbreaking art, music, feminism, and activism. We see how she coped under the most intense, relentless, and cynical microscope as she was falsely vilified for the most heinous cultural crime imaginable: breaking up the greatest rock-and-roll band in history.
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Great Book, Horrible Narrator
- By Mg on 03-28-25
By: David Sheff
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I Am a Heroin Addict
- By: Ritchie Farrell
- Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Heroin is a Beast, and that Beast has infiltrated every town and city in America. The Beast has come for your sons and daughters. The Beast is hunting for your fathers and mothers. And that Beast has only one mission, to bury as many Americans as possible. I Am a Heroin Addict is the story of how Ritchie Farrell survived a ten-bag-a-day heroin habit to become a best-selling author, WGA screenwriter, and recipient of the prestigious du-Pont-Columbia Award for excellence in journalism.
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Well done!
- By dmcstudent on 10-30-18
By: Ritchie Farrell
What listeners say about Beautiful Boy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- bigdealgiles
- 02-05-18
new perspective on addiction
This was a great, but scary story about addiction through a father's eyes. I cried a lot.
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- Kassie H
- 12-06-18
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.
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- P. Both
- 01-11-15
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!
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- Tricia C Duffee
- 11-05-18
Loved it
Scary, sad, beautiful, informative! Well read. I saw the movie and wanted a little more info. This is a great read.
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- Darlene
- 06-01-11
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.
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- windy888
- 03-10-20
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
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- Cassia Karin Ferrara
- 08-12-21
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!
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- Coronnalvr
- 08-09-21
good information on addiction
well done story with human details, but, not too much. brave father to share this.
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- als1202
- 11-08-18
Great read...
everybody knows somebody that has addiction (and it comes in many forms) in their life...
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-11-18
Sad but beautiful
Really touching loved it. Can’t wait for the movie. 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙 great love love love read it.
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