David Shell's story is a first : a teenager's addiction from his parent's point of view ; a real-time chronicle of a son's shocking descent into substance abuse and his gradual emergence into hope. Before meth, Sheff's son Nic was an accomplished athlete, top student, and award-winning journalist. After meth, he was a trembling wreck who stole money from his eight-year-old brother and lived on the streets.
With haunting candour, Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs : the denial ; the 3 a.m. phone calls ; the attempts at rehab ; and, finally, the way past addiction. Crystal meth is acknowledged to be the world's most addictive and dangerous drug, wreaking permanent brain damage faster than any other available narcotic. But Nic's story is not just about meth. His story, and his father's, is that of any family struggling to support an addict.
