Synopses & Reviews
Addiction is a preventable, treatable disease. As with other illnesses, the approaches most likely to work are based on science — not on faith, tradition, contrition, or wishful thinking.
Those facts are the foundation of Clean, a new paradigm for preventing drug abuse and treating addiction and the mental illnesses that usually accompany it. Based on the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, Clean is a leap beyond the traditional approaches to prevention and treatment. Twelve Step approaches have helped many, but they have failed to help many more, and Sheff explains why. He spent time with scores of scientists, social workers, and addicts and their families, to find out what can work, and just as important, how addiction itself works. Clean offers clear, cogent counsel for addicts and their loved ones no matter what stage of the illness they're in. But it is also a book for all of us — a powerful rethinking of one of the greatest public health challenges of our time.
Review
"Clean will change not only how you look at drug abuse, but also what you think should be done about it. This book is essential reading about one of our most important social problems." Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness
Review
"In Beautiful Boy, David Sheff gave voice to the silent — the millions of addicts and their families. Now in Clean, he offers them a path toward healing. Our nation is sinking into an epidemic. This book offers realistic hope for recovery from addiction for those who suffer the disease." Drew Pinsky, M.D., host of Dr. Drew
Review
"How do we prevent kids from using drugs, and how do we effectively treat addiction? Clean cuts through the technical jargon and marketing nonsense to summarize our best knowledge on these topics. The case studies illuminate the challenging process of treatment and the remarkable changes that occur with recovery. Clean is a major contribution to our understanding of this disease and how to fight it." Richard A. Rawson, Ph.D., professor and associate director, Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles
Review
"Clean is an important exposé of a failed system; by replacing it, we will save countless lives, help people get clean and stay clean, and help the U.S. end its catastrophic war on drugs." Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman, Virgin Group, and member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy
Review
"David Sheff is one of our strongest and most compassionate voices on the profound costs of addiction to the family and to society. Clean should be read by anyone affected by the number-one public health issue in America, which means it should be ready by everybody." Christopher Kennedy Lawford, author of Recover to Live and Symptoms of Withdrawal
Review
"David Sheff has written the most important book about addiction in a decade. Clean is a blueprint for thinking clearly — and empathetically — about America's costliest and most misunderstood public health crisis." Benoit Denizet-Lewis, author of America Anonymous
Synopsis
The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Boy offers a new paradigm for dealing with addiction based on cutting-edge research and stories of his own and other families' struggles with — and triumphs over — drug abuse.
About the Author
David Sheff is the author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling memoir Beautiful Boy. Sheff's other books include Game Over, China Dawn, and All We Are Saying. His many articles and interviews have appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Wired, Fortune, and elsewhere. His ongoing research and reporting on the science of addiction earned him a place on Time Magazine's list of the World's Most Influential People. Sheff and his family live in Inverness, California.