Sheff, Nic. Tweak. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster. 2007.
Reason, Type and Setting:
I asked Fehrenbacher for a book to read and he offered me anything from his small library of books. As I scanned the spines of the books, I read “Tweak” in bold letters. I pulled it out and read “growing up on methamphetamines”. I was sold. This book is a memoir according to the author, basically a first person biography of Nic Sheff. It takes place in between San Francisco California - where most of his drug using goes on - and Los Angeles California - where he goes to try to become sober. Also, they go to Honolulu, Hawaii.
Plot:
Nic Sheff is the main character. He comes in contact with many other characters; Lauren, Zelda, David Shedd, Daisy, Jasper, Gack. There are a few more but I don’t remember them all. Throughout this book you are taken on a rollercoaster of ups and downs, with Nic doing drugs on and off. It starts off talking about how much potential there is for him. His writing was published in Newsweek, prestigious universities are providing him with scholarships, he has a better than average life going for him. He said he’d smoked pot and drank a lot in high school, and experimented with a few other drugs but that was all behind him, so he thought. After eighteen months of sobriety, he relapsed. Standing on the corner of Haight Street in the heart of San Francisco, all that work thrown down the drain. From then on things got worse, he was living on the streets, slinging drugs with another street junkie. He also had gotten Lauren, his old friend into heroin and occasionally meth. They soon started dating. Once he finally had it he went back to Los Angeles to live where he previously did, with a friend. Trying to sober up was the biggest challenge, the first few days he just shivered and sweated on the floor of his apartment, trying to get back to normal.
Character:
The main character is Nic Sheff, a relapsing junkie who had great potential. In first couple of pages Nic is described and there seems no way he would ever go back to drugs. He had it all going for him, the prestigious colleges, published writing, there was no reason to go back. Without much warning Nic is back in San Francisco, drunk and stoned of ambien… He embraces his relapse and just goes along for the ride, which takes him on a HIGH-way to hell. Throughout the book he does not show much strength or intellectual knowledge, It doesn’t seem like he could be this great student who once was planning on going to a university.
Evaluation:
I found this book very interesting, considering I could actually stay focused enough to read it. That must mean that I liked it, otherwise I wouldn’t have remembered a single thing. I found the whole drug aspect of it very intriguing, being able to hear someones first hand experience with methamphetamines. I was enlightened on how easy it is for all your work to be thrown away because of one mistake. It doesn’t seem fair that so much hard work can be gone because of one bad thing. It’s like a mistake can wipe away everything yet doing good doesn’t get you much unless you put in one hundred percent throughout your life. I would definitely recommend this book to others. It is an easy read because the writer uses first person and doesn’t try to make it all fancy and esteemed, he just writes it how it is.
This book doesn't apply to my real life situation but it shows you how someone just like me could end up going down a dark path without control. After reading this book it makes you realize the reality of life and why people end up the way they are. The ending of the book was satisfying, I don't think it could have ended any other way.
Author, Context and Trivia:
Nic Sheff has also written, We All Fall Down. I know that this book writer specializes in his life story, mainly talking about living with an addiction. I have not read his other book or any books like this but I do plan on reading We All Fall Down next.
Reason, Type and Setting:
I asked Fehrenbacher for a book to read and he offered me anything from his small library of books. As I scanned the spines of the books, I read “Tweak” in bold letters. I pulled it out and read “growing up on methamphetamines”. I was sold. This book is a memoir according to the author, basically a first person biography of Nic Sheff. It takes place in between San Francisco California - where most of his drug using goes on - and Los Angeles California - where he goes to try to become sober. Also, they go to Honolulu, Hawaii.
Plot:
Nic Sheff is the main character. He comes in contact with many other characters; Lauren, Zelda, David Shedd, Daisy, Jasper, Gack. There are a few more but I don’t remember them all. Throughout this book you are taken on a rollercoaster of ups and downs, with Nic doing drugs on and off. It starts off talking about how much potential there is for him. His writing was published in Newsweek, prestigious universities are providing him with scholarships, he has a better than average life going for him. He said he’d smoked pot and drank a lot in high school, and experimented with a few other drugs but that was all behind him, so he thought. After eighteen months of sobriety, he relapsed. Standing on the corner of Haight Street in the heart of San Francisco, all that work thrown down the drain. From then on things got worse, he was living on the streets, slinging drugs with another street junkie. He also had gotten Lauren, his old friend into heroin and occasionally meth. They soon started dating. Once he finally had it he went back to Los Angeles to live where he previously did, with a friend. Trying to sober up was the biggest challenge, the first few days he just shivered and sweated on the floor of his apartment, trying to get back to normal.
Character:
The main character is Nic Sheff, a relapsing junkie who had great potential. In first couple of pages Nic is described and there seems no way he would ever go back to drugs. He had it all going for him, the prestigious colleges, published writing, there was no reason to go back. Without much warning Nic is back in San Francisco, drunk and stoned of ambien… He embraces his relapse and just goes along for the ride, which takes him on a HIGH-way to hell. Throughout the book he does not show much strength or intellectual knowledge, It doesn’t seem like he could be this great student who once was planning on going to a university.
Evaluation:
I found this book very interesting, considering I could actually stay focused enough to read it. That must mean that I liked it, otherwise I wouldn’t have remembered a single thing. I found the whole drug aspect of it very intriguing, being able to hear someones first hand experience with methamphetamines. I was enlightened on how easy it is for all your work to be thrown away because of one mistake. It doesn’t seem fair that so much hard work can be gone because of one bad thing. It’s like a mistake can wipe away everything yet doing good doesn’t get you much unless you put in one hundred percent throughout your life. I would definitely recommend this book to others. It is an easy read because the writer uses first person and doesn’t try to make it all fancy and esteemed, he just writes it how it is.
This book doesn't apply to my real life situation but it shows you how someone just like me could end up going down a dark path without control. After reading this book it makes you realize the reality of life and why people end up the way they are. The ending of the book was satisfying, I don't think it could have ended any other way.
Author, Context and Trivia:
Nic Sheff has also written, We All Fall Down. I know that this book writer specializes in his life story, mainly talking about living with an addiction. I have not read his other book or any books like this but I do plan on reading We All Fall Down next.