David Sheff's story is a first: a teenager's addiction from the 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 wraith who stole money from his 8-year-old brother and lived on the streets. With haunting candour, sheff traces the first subtle warning signs, the denial, the three a.m. phone calls (is it Nic? the police? the hospital?), the attempts at rehab and, finally, the way past addiction. He shows us that whatever an addict's fate, the rest of the family must care for one another too, lest they become addicted to addiction.