David Sheff

Early life and education

Sheff is of Russian Jewish descent. He is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.

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.

Works

Sheff's books include:

• Yoko: A Biography (2025) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Yoko/David-Sheff/9781982188245

• Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

• Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy

• Game Over

• The Buddhist on Death Row

• All We Are Saying: The Last Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

• 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," discussing Sheff's relationship with his son throughout his methamphetamine addiction. An adaptation directed by Felix van Groeningen was released in 2018.

Views on addiction

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

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; he also wrote a memoir recounting his years of addiction: Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.

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. Beautiful Boy won the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award for nonfiction.

He has received several awards from organizations dealing with addiction, including 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.

References

References

1. "Father and son memoirs".
2. (January 1981). "Playboy Interview: John Lennon and Yoko Ono". [[Playboy]].
3. Sheff, David. (2009). "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction". [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]].
4. [http://www.davidsheff.com/contact.html David Sheff's home page] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-07-08 Author's bio)
5. Sussman, Mick (April 19, 2013). [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/books/review/clean-by-david-sheff.html?_r=0 "A Disease, Not a Crime"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''.
6. Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. (1993-05-13). "Books of The Times; Taking the Frivolity of Games Seriously Indeed". The New York Times.
7. "Why Nintendo Rules (Fortune, 1993)".
8. [https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-sheff/the-buddhist-on-death-row/ "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.
10. (2005-02-06). "My Addicted Son". The New York Times Magazine.
11. (January 2019). "The Marin Family Behind the Film Beautiful Boy".
12. D'Alessandro, Anthony. (February 15, 2018). "Steve Carell & Timothée Chalamet Title 'Beautiful Boy' Sets Fall Release".
13. "When My Son Became Addicted, I Thought It Was His Problem. But Addiction Is a Family Disease".
14. Sheff, David. "David Sheff On Addiction: Prevention, Treatment And Staying 'Clean'". [[NPR]].
15. Winerman, Lea. (June 2013). "Breaking free from addiction".
16. (2013-08-01). "Author David Sheff Focuses on the War on Prevention".
17. Training, Botvin LifeSkills. "Botvin LifeSkills Training Most Widely Used Evidence-Based Prevention Program in Elementary Schools".
18. McGrath, Charles. (February 26, 2008). "A Twice-Told Tale of Addiction: By Father, by Son". [[The New York Times]].
19. Velkow, Nora. (30 April 2009). "The 2009 Time 100". [[Meredith Corporation]].
20. "Barnes & Noble: Discover Great New Writers Award".
21. "Awards - AAAP".