Tweak is a very candid, autobiographical story about a young man with a drug addiction. (Meth, heroin, acid, marijuana, alcohol...you name it.) It spans a relatively short span of his life, but chronicles addiction, rehab, relapse and recovery.
I actually enjoyed reading the book. Ok... I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right word. The subject matter was very hard to take and at some points I just had to put the book down because it was too much for me to fathom. I've never personally known anyone with serious drug addictions, so obviously the subject matter was new to me.
I thought the book was enlightening, but it also made me a little scared to be becoming a parent. To read about how Nic so easily fell into addiction really terrified me. Maybe I should stick to summer beach reads during this pregnancy rather then going for the ones with teenage drug abuse.
On the other hand, there is a "sister" book to this named Beautiful Boy, which was written by Nic's father about the same period of his life but from his father's point of view. Maybe reading that would give me some additional insight. Or maybe it would make me want to lock my kids in my house until they are 30. It could go either way.
Anyways, This is certainly not a book review, but I just finished the book and had to get some thoughts down on paper. I definitely stand by my thought about being able to get out of your reading "comfort zone" every once in a while. There-- that's my random tip of the day! :)
2 comments:
I read Tweak and Beautiful Boy and I enjoyed them both. Although, I agree, it's dark material. And, as far as reading Beautiful Boy goes, I don't know that it will exactly make you feel any better about the situation. It is wonderful and poignant but also filled with desperation and despair.
Thanks for the review! A friend and I are trying to start a book club, and this would make for some very good reading/discussion material.
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