As soon as I completed the introduction of the novel, I developed the sense that David Sheff has a very unique writing style. The way in which this memoir is written I find very interesting because usually in memoirs authors tend to sometimes leave out how other people in the world can learn from their life experiences until the end or towards the middle when the author tends to summarize the last thoughts of what they want to leave the reader. By Sheff including certain statistics of drug addiction, it is able for readers to fully grasp the reality of what it takes to try to battle an addiction, whether it be with drugs, alcohol or any other form of addiction. Immediately his writing style grabbed my attention and made we want to learn more about what is son, Nic, had to go through in order to control his addiction with methamphetamine. Another thing I find interesting is how David Sheff described the process by which he had created this book and how many people were so deeply moved by his story because other parents from all over were able to relate to what Sheff had to deal with. This indicates to the reader that this is a book that discusses a problem that is worldwide and it may be for you to read if you enjoy relating well to the novel you are reading.
Nic has just come back home from college for summer vacation. The whole family is so excited to see him, and it seems as if Nic is having a good time, until he begins to ask to borrow the car. Nic's parents have placed a curfew on him, and he seems to be follwing the rules until one day Nic tells his father that he is going out for a drug rehab meeting. His father allows him to go out for the meeting, but then ends up worrying sick about where Nic is when he ends up not being home by 11:30. He keeps trying to tell himself that his son can't possibly taking drugs again after he began to make so much progress in recovery from his addiction. However, Nic ends up not coming back home until 1 in the morning. When discussing the reason fo why he was out so late, Nic becomes very defensive and simply states that many group members in the rehab meeting went to a girl's house in order to socialize and watch a movie. He keeps denying to his father that he is high until his father asks him to come and take a drug test. Once the father had said this, Nic immediatly left the house and admitted he was high since the beginning of his semester at college.
David Sheff seems to be going through a period of time where he seems helpless and confused. He seems to only want to be comforted by listening to other people's problems and mentions that "people are relieved to learn that they are not alone in their suffering, that they are apart of something larger, in this case, a societal plague- an epidemic of children, an epidemic of families." Thus, Sheff is trying to say that by hearing how other parents were dealing with their own children's drug addictions, it gave him the hope that he could find the strength inside himself to help Nic get to a full recovery.
The process of reading this book has been a little slow for me due to the fact that sometimes the sentences are written very long and descriptive, so it takes me awhile to process sometimes the full meaning of what Sheff is trying to say. However, I would definitly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with a drug addiction or if you know someone battling addiction. This book may just be what it takes for someone you care about to have a full recovery.
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