David Sheff

David Sheff (born December 23, 1955) is an American author. He is best known for his interviews with artists, scientists, and pop culture figures, as well as his non-fiction books. Much of his writing, including his memoir Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction, deals with substance addiction.

David Sheff
Born	(1955-12-23) December 23, 1955 (age 69)[1][2] Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Education	University of California, Berkeley
Notable works	Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction All We Are Saying: The Last Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono Game Over
Spouse	Karen Barbour
Children	3, including Nic Sheff
Website
www.davidsheff.com

Early life and education

Sheff is of Russian Jewish descent.^[3] He is originally from Boston, Massachusetts.^[4] He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.^[4]

Career

Working as a journalist, Sheff has written articles and conducted interviews for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Wired, Fortune, and NPR's All Things Considered.

His interview subjects have included John Lennon, Frank Zappa, Steve Jobs, Ai Weiwei, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Jack Nicholson, Ted Taylor, Carl Sagan, Betty Friedan, Barney Frank, and Fareed Zakaria.

He has also been an editor of several magazines including New West and California.^[4]

Works

Sheff's books include

• Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
• Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy^[5]
• Game Over,^[6][7] The Buddhist on Death Row^[8]
• All We Are Saying: The Last Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono^[9]

• High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol, and Addiction

Beautiful Boy was based on Sheff's New York Times article "My Addicted Son".^{[10] [11]}

Honors and awards

In 2009, Sheff was included in Time magazine's Time 100 and on the magazine's World's Most Influential People list.^[12] Beautiful Boy won the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award for nonfiction^[13] and was one Amazon's Best Books of the Year in 2008.

He received media awards from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), American Society of Addiction Medicine, the Partnership for Drug-free Kids, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), and was the first recipient of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) Arts and Literature Award.^[14]

Views on addiction

Sheff argues that addiction is a brain disease and advocates for putting addicts into therapy programs early.^[15][16] He identifies factors such as stress and trauma as major factors that can cause addiction.^[16][17] He argues for teaching life skills to reduce the risk of addiction in response to these risk factors.^[18][19]

Personal life

Sheff lives in Northern California with his wife Karen Barbour. Barbour is an artist, illustrator, and author of children's books. Sheff has three children: Nic, Jasper, and Daisy Sheff. Nic Sheff is a writer for television and film;^[20] he also wrote a memoir recounting his years of addiction: Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines. Jasper Sheff is a Grammy Award-nominated^[21] musician who has co-written and produced songs^[22] for Lil Nas X, Elton John,^[23] Halsey, and XXXTentacion. Daisy Sheff is an artist whose paintings have been exhibited in many places including White Columns Gallery,^[24] Ratio 3, Clearing Gallery,^[25] and Grimm Gallery.^[26]

In popular culture

In 2018, Felix van Groeningen adapted Sheff's book Beautiful Boy into a feature film of the same name. In the film Sheff is portrayed by Steve Carell with Timothée Chalamet as his son Nic. Actress Maura Tierney portrays David's wife and Amy Ryan plays Nic's mother.^[27]

References

1. "Father and son memoirs". Entertainment Weekly.
2. Sheff, David (January 1981). "Playboy Interview: John Lennon and Yoko Ono". Playboy. Vol. 28, no. 1. p. 75. Retrieved December 20, 2020. The interview apparently depended on Yoko's interpretation of my horoscope, just as many of Lenons' business decisions are reportedly guide by the stars. I could imagine explaining to my Playboy editor, 'Sorry, but my moon is in Scorpio–the interview's off.' It was clearly out of my hands. I supplied the info: December 23, three P.M., Boston.
3. Sheff, David (2009). Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 149. ISBN 978-0547347929.
4. David Sheff's home page Archived 2008-07-08 at the Wayback Machine Author's bio
5. Sussman, Mick (April 19, 2013). "A Disease, Not a Crime". The New York Times.
6. Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (May 13, 1993). "Books of The Times; Taking the Frivolity of Games Seriously Indeed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
7. "Why Nintendo Rules (Fortune, 1993)". Fortune. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
8. "An indelible portrait of an incarcerated man finding new life and purpose behind bars". Kirkus Reviews. March 1, 2020.
9. Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0312254643.
10. Sheff, David (February 6, 2005). "My Addicted Son". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
11. "The Marin Family Behind the Film Beautiful Boy". Marin Magazine. January 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
12. Velkow, Nora (April 30, 2009). "The 2009 Time 100". Time. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009.
13. "Barnes & Noble: Discover Great New Writers Award". Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
14. "Awards - AAAP". American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
15. "When My Son Became Addicted, I Thought It Was His Problem. But Addiction Is a Family Disease". Where Families Find Answers on Substance Use | Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.
16. Sheff, David. "David Sheff On Addiction: Prevention, Treatment And Staying 'Clean'". NPR.org. NPR.
17. Winerman, Lea (June 2013). "Breaking free from addiction". American Psychological Association. Archived from the original on February 24, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
18. "Author David Sheff Focuses on the War on Prevention". KLEAN Treatment Centers. August 1, 2013. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
19. Training, Botvin LifeSkills. "Botvin LifeSkills Training Most Widely Used Evidence-Based Prevention Program in Elementary Schools". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).
20. McGrath, Charles (February 26, 2008). "A Twice-Told Tale of Addiction: By Father, by Son". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
21. "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List". November 23, 2021.
22. "Jasper Sheff". Genius. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
23. "Lil Nas X & Take a Daytrip Lead Hot 100 Songwriters & Producers Charts Thanks to 'Montero' Hits". Billboard. September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
24. "6 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now". The New York Times. April 28, 2021. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
25. Clearing Gallery
26. "Grimm Gallery | When We Said Break a Leg, We Meant It". Flaunt. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
27. D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 15, 2018). "Steve Carell & Timothée Chalamet Title 'Beautiful Boy' Sets Fall Release". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 20, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• "My Addicted Son" by David Sheff – New York Times article that preceded his full-length memoir, Beautiful Boy.