My daughter and I have dealt with her drug addiction and personality disorder since mid-college. When I listened to Beautiful Boy (CD) it was an incredible echo of all my own thoughts, feelings, and actions over the last eight years. Eight years of crises, days I wished I could run away while my daughter ranted at me. I tell everyone I know how incredible this book is. Every parent who thinks it will never happen to their child should read this. Every parent who has had it happen to their child should read this. Every mental health professional from social worker to psychiatrist should be required to read it. I've never met a psychiatrist or psychologist who has understood what it feels like to live through these experiences. I want to send copies to my friends, my doctors, my daughter's mental health group, etc. At the least, my friends will be able to comprehend how and why I've changed so much since this all started. Like the author, despite everything, I will never be able to give up on my daughter. Hearing the lengths that Nic's parents went for him to have a chance gives me affirmation that I've been right to refuse to give up on her while others have advised me to do so "for my own sake." After three hospitalizations my daughter is now at a long term facility (one year and counting) and is finally getting out of adolescence where she had remained stuck for ten years.