In an effort to expand my nonfiction horizons I picked up Beautiful Boy this past weekend.

Since starting the nonfiction program at the University of Washington I’ve become more interested in real stories. I used to read a lot of fiction, but now I’ve been reading nonfiction pieces.

The book is about a father’s journey through his son’s addiction—at least that’s what I know of it so far. The author and his son Nic have been in the media lately, but I haven’t watched. I know this is a popular book and usually I stray away from what everyone’s reading, but lately I’ve wanted to read contemporary works.

For the past 8 months I’ve been studying the craft of nonfiction and I’ve been introduced to many nonfiction writers I had no idea existed and some I did (Wendell Berry). I do feel like a rookie in this writing world. Many times I don’t think I have anything to write about, but as soon as I think that I’ll be jotting down another idea in my notebook.

If you’re interested check out the book. If you’ve read it or are reading the book let’s keep up the dialogue.

What worked for you and what didn’t?

PS: I just discovered that Nic Sheff wrote a book, Tweak, which you can read about here.