(56)We All Fall Down by Nic Sheff

I was first introduced, figuratively, in 2008 when I read Tweak. A book about a young man, Nic Sheff, who has battled addiction for most of his life. Tweak took us into the down and dirty of addiction. The book ended with Nic in an Arizona rehab.

We All Fall Down picks up in that Arizona rehab. He struggles in rehab, as all addicts do, and ends up falling in love while there. After they both leave the facility they travel back East to Sue Ellen's hometown where Nic struggles to finish his book, Tweak, and struggles to stay clean. He doesn't. Stay clean that is. I am a bit disappointed to find out that while on his book tour he was not clean. He finds his way back to California where once again he struggles to stay clean and work on his second book, this one.

I really liked Tweak, and his fathers book A Beautiful Boy. I was a huge advocate for both books at the bookstore and would handsell it to just about anyone I could. We All Fall Down was a good book, but not nearly as good as Tweak. Told in Nic's voice it should be rated "R" just for language alone. One of the things about Tweak that held my interest was just the sheer grittiness of his addiction. The dark and dangerous places it took him. The fact that he was brutally honest about it earned him my respect. We All Fall Down was different. It lacked that "grittiness" -- which for him is good -- but it honestly did not keep me interested in the book. Overall, it was a good follow up, just not as gripping as his first novel. -- I will say, given the dark & twisty places he has been, I would love to see what kind of fiction that could come out of his mind.