"I'd heard rumors about what happened to Lauren."
In the last few weeks, I've read David Sheff's Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through His Son's Addiction and Nic Sheff's Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines. These are the memoirs that have been getting attention in the last few months, both men writing about the same thing: Nic's addiction to crystal meth (and other drugs). As someone who loves memoir, I found the thought of two perspectves on the same events fascinating. So many times, memoir gets dismissed as being one-sided. So why not have two people who lived through the same thing?

Nic's book is marketed to teens. The jacket says it is for those fifteen and up, and it's been on bestseller lists of children's lit. David's book is aimed at adults. That is significant, I think, because the style of the books is different. I wouldn't say that Nic's is simplier, but it is more focused and a bit more linear, starting with a relapse and moving forward with a few shifts into memory now and then. David's book is largely linear, but the flashbacks are more distinct and detailed, going into his own drug past. David's is much more detailed. Some might say too detailed. He goes into the science of meth's effects on the brain and body. His research is obvious. David's is more linear, but the story of his relapse and recovery is so compelling that it flows easily. If I had a teenager, I would want her or him to read it, and I'd want to talk about it with them. I think both books were great. I plan to teach both of them in my pain seminar this seminar, with half the students reading one and half reading the other.

I've read a few memoirs of addiction in the last few years; I know I've written about them on here. These are my favorites because I think they do the best job of talking about what people are really facing. Nic details what the drug does to him, and David really gets deep into his thoughts and feelings as the father of an addict. Other books seems to talk around the realities of drug use. But these dove deep into it. It was uncomfortable at times. It brought up memories of friends from the past and the fears I've felt at various times in my life.

As a writing teacher, I am fascinated by the writing process. Aparently, they did not read each other's manuscripts until they were each close to publication. David makes some moves typical of those who write memoir, changing the names of people and places. He writes that Nic's last rehab was in New Mexico and that his sponsor was Randy. Nice writes the last rehab was in Arizona and that his sponsore was Spencer. Minor points (that some may want to blow out of proportion) but interesting in that it gets me thinking how Nic wants to tell the truth of what he did and did not do. He names names. Nic can't hold back anymore. David takes a step back because it was a step removed from it all. And for him, it wasn't about the who and the where. It was about the what, what Nic's addiciton did to David's daily existence, his family.

It's obvious that both men are trying to figure out what did it, what created the addiciton. David's divorce and the subsequent shuttling of Nic between San Francisco and Los Angeles? David's exposure of Nic to adult situations at a young age (the women David was dating? films like The Crying Game?)? A chemical imbalance or something hereditary? As with most origin stories, such questions can only go so far and can often prove dangerous. Though they were out of contact for months at a time, the love between them is obvious, too. and that's a nice thing to see.

It'll be interesting to teach them. I'll have more to say then, I'm sure.
- posted by Nels @ 8:45 PM | | | Link |