This best-selling memoir depicts a family’s experience with addiction and covers a substantial portion of the author’s son Nic’s life and the struggles to live with, help, and understand the person with a substance use disorder. This book was #1 on New York Times best seller list, Entertainment Weekly named it the #1 Best Nonfiction Book the year it was published, Amazon named it “Best Book” in 2008, and it won the Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers Award” for nonfiction as well. 


Beautiful Boy is used as a text in the Young People and Drugs UGS Signature Course. It elegantly weaves the narrative and experience with the best of the evidence-based science about addiction and recovery. The authors have visited our class in the past, so we can share insights beyond the written word. This book is an excellent vehicle to understanding addiction, recovery, and more about yourself in the midst.