--- product_id: 1702168 title: "Beautiful Boy: A Heartbreaking Story of a Father’s Love, Addiction, and the Fight to Save His Son" price: "VT5184" currency: VUV in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/1702168-beautiful-boy-a-heartbreaking-story-of-a-father-s-love store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # Beautiful Boy: A Heartbreaking Story of a Father’s Love, Addiction, and the Fight to Save His Son **Price:** VT5184 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Beautiful Boy: A Heartbreaking Story of a Father’s Love, Addiction, and the Fight to Save His Son - **How much does it cost?** VT5184 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/1702168-beautiful-boy-a-heartbreaking-story-of-a-father-s-love) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Beautiful Boy: A Heartbreaking Story of a Father’s Love, Addiction, and the Fight to Save His Son [Sheff, David] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Beautiful Boy: A Heartbreaking Story of a Father’s Love, Addiction, and the Fight to Save His Son Review: Unhappy families are unhappy in their own way... - ..unless addiction is involved. Sheff captures that mixture of hope and despair living in each parent whose child has gone into the dark, deep hole of addiction. His book is full of joy and tragedy. Love and relief, ambiguity and disgust and dislike. And guilt, so much guilt. Guilt for feeling all the love and hope and despair. In this book Sheff touches on pretty much everything parents feel (or at least this parent) when their child goes over to the dark side. Very well written, spellbinding in its own way, the reader will have a hard time staying neutral to the players in this personal tragedy. Sheff admits that for years people have given well-meaning advice and criticism. You should have done this. Why on earth did you do that. Until and unless you've had to deal with HIS issues, there is no right or wrong. Sheff did the best he could at the time with the information he had, at that static moment in time. No parent can say they haven't done the same thing. And who knows if the result would have been the same after all? Siblings, family, partners and friends have their own experiences with their addict, but a parent is a bit different. As Sheff points out, we are the soft place for them to fall, the most influential people in their lives until we send them off into the world and their tiny circle widens to include day care workers, teachers, coaches and friends. As parents we hand them over, so to speak, and our sphere of influence diminishes as the years go by- as it should. The mistake Sheff made, and he freely admits it, is that he was under the impression that he had armed his child with the tools he needed to succeed, and when that seemed to fail, Sheff began to question what exactly he had done to contribute to that failure. It is common if not universal among the parents of addicted children to blame their parenting. Other people will also look first to the home environment. Sheff takes a long hard look at himself and his parenting, and still has a hard time forgiving himself for mistakes he made. But who doesn't make mistakes? Conversely, does that mean parents get to take the credit for every good thing their child does? Is it right for a parent to take credit for the successes or failures of their child? And failure and success are rather subjective anyhow. Sheff does not really address this, although he tries hard to forgive himself, which he should. I really hope he has succeeded. What struck a deep note with me was how accurately he describes the sea change in parenting expectations... one day you are thrilled to see an A in spelling and almost the next you wake up grateful that the police haven't knocked on your door telling you that your child is dead. I have not read Nic Sheff's book yet, I want to leave a little break between the two. But I highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever been touched by addiction of any kind. It won't do a thing to prevent addiction but it may give you a gleam of insight into the silent and desperate life of the friend, co-worker or relative who has a child in trouble. Review: Excellent read! - Excellent book! I highly recommend reading this for the story and the facts about this horrific addiction!! ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #11,568 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #3 in Drug Dependency & Recovery (Books) #11 in Substance Abuse Recovery #164 in Memoirs (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (8,425) | | Dimensions | 5.31 x 0.81 x 8 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | ISBN-10 | 0547203888 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0547203881 | | Item Weight | 11.2 ounces | | Language | English | | Print length | 352 pages | | Publication date | January 6, 2009 | | Publisher | Mariner Books | | Reading age | 15 - 18 years | ## Images ![Beautiful Boy: A Heartbreaking Story of a Father’s Love, Addiction, and the Fight to Save His Son - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Tl2DqYrrL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Unhappy families are unhappy in their own way... *by M***I on March 29, 2014* ..unless addiction is involved. Sheff captures that mixture of hope and despair living in each parent whose child has gone into the dark, deep hole of addiction. His book is full of joy and tragedy. Love and relief, ambiguity and disgust and dislike. And guilt, so much guilt. Guilt for feeling all the love and hope and despair. In this book Sheff touches on pretty much everything parents feel (or at least this parent) when their child goes over to the dark side. Very well written, spellbinding in its own way, the reader will have a hard time staying neutral to the players in this personal tragedy. Sheff admits that for years people have given well-meaning advice and criticism. You should have done this. Why on earth did you do that. Until and unless you've had to deal with HIS issues, there is no right or wrong. Sheff did the best he could at the time with the information he had, at that static moment in time. No parent can say they haven't done the same thing. And who knows if the result would have been the same after all? Siblings, family, partners and friends have their own experiences with their addict, but a parent is a bit different. As Sheff points out, we are the soft place for them to fall, the most influential people in their lives until we send them off into the world and their tiny circle widens to include day care workers, teachers, coaches and friends. As parents we hand them over, so to speak, and our sphere of influence diminishes as the years go by- as it should. The mistake Sheff made, and he freely admits it, is that he was under the impression that he had armed his child with the tools he needed to succeed, and when that seemed to fail, Sheff began to question what exactly he had done to contribute to that failure. It is common if not universal among the parents of addicted children to blame their parenting. Other people will also look first to the home environment. Sheff takes a long hard look at himself and his parenting, and still has a hard time forgiving himself for mistakes he made. But who doesn't make mistakes? Conversely, does that mean parents get to take the credit for every good thing their child does? Is it right for a parent to take credit for the successes or failures of their child? And failure and success are rather subjective anyhow. Sheff does not really address this, although he tries hard to forgive himself, which he should. I really hope he has succeeded. What struck a deep note with me was how accurately he describes the sea change in parenting expectations... one day you are thrilled to see an A in spelling and almost the next you wake up grateful that the police haven't knocked on your door telling you that your child is dead. I have not read Nic Sheff's book yet, I want to leave a little break between the two. But I highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever been touched by addiction of any kind. It won't do a thing to prevent addiction but it may give you a gleam of insight into the silent and desperate life of the friend, co-worker or relative who has a child in trouble. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent read! *by J***. on April 9, 2026* Excellent book! I highly recommend reading this for the story and the facts about this horrific addiction!! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I read Beautiful Boy alongside Nic Sheff's (David's son) memoir Tweak *by G***T on April 12, 2016* I read Beautiful Boy alongside Nic Sheff's (David's son) memoir Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines. They are perfect companions for one another, providing a valuable insight into two sides of the same addictions. David's love for his son is visceral. His descriptions of his own addiction to Nic's addictions are utterly relatable as the loved one of an addict and are honestly portrayed. I felt so deeply for this wounded family, wanted badly for them to heal. I hope that Nic has found lasting health and all have found peace. I am glad that he never gave up on Nic. The style is technically journalistic with clear prose and the occasional clever metaphor. I took off one star because of the heavy AA overtones and the implications that AA is necessary for recovery in all cases (or even at all). It wouldn't have bothered me if AA was only featured as something his family experienced, but he remarks several times that it seems like AA is the only possible valid working treatment for addiction in general - the only chance an addict has is to work the steps. This may have been the case for his family and son, and more power to them, but someone as well-researched as David Sheff clearly is should have been alarmed by the lack of clinical studies and success rates of AA. I don't feel like a memoir is the appropriate place to prescribe treatment for a wider societal problem. It requires way more explanation than there is room for. Overall, this did not affect my reading experience too greatly. A day after finishing the book I am still reeling from it. ## Frequently Bought Together - Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction - Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines - Call Me by Your Name (MTI): A Novel --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vu/products/1702168-beautiful-boy-a-heartbreaking-story-of-a-father-s-love](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/1702168-beautiful-boy-a-heartbreaking-story-of-a-father-s-love) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-05-07*