Winner of 2008 BNoble Discover Great Writers AwardBest NonFiction Book of 2008 - Entertainment Weekly
Read this book for the second time around. Nervously, I have recommended it for our next Stillwater Book Club discussion. I'm anticipating the discussion as we don't typically read memoirs or novels about drug abuse. I'm not sure how they'll feel about the honesty of the book and the rawness (quite a few F-inheimers though not gratuitous). I feel the book is revealing and courageous. I'm eager to hear how they felt about the book though reading it as parents and commenting on how to let kids go, divorce and how addiction is different now than it was 20-30 years ago.
I, personally, love the book. Not sure if it's my love affair of the geography of the novel (situated in Point Reyes and the North Beach community of San Fran). I could be biased. Most of all, I feel as though I've learned how to counsel families who are struggling with an addicted son/daughter. This seemed to be a well researched book on methamphetamine and I recognized a lot of Hazelden speak: the three C's, secrets make you sick, relapse is part of recovery, etc. I felt like I knew the characters intimately by the end of the book and really want to know how they are doing currently. I dreaded when Nic would relapse yet again and felt such pain for him and for the family. I wonder if he has yet hit his bottom.
Other things to discuss: the twist at the end for David Sheff, co-dependency, the charmed life, role of religions, the disease model, the effect on family (siblings, extended family, parents, etc.)
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