Product Description

A firsthand look at what it means—and what it takes—for young addicts to get clean and stay clean

"To suddenly think, ‘Hey, wait a minute, I’m 21. I just got sober. I can’t drink like all my friends ever again?’ I remember thinking my whole life had crumbled." Welcome to recovery from a young addict’s perspective. Written by MTV’s Chris Beckman with contributions from dozens of teens and twentysomethings in recovery, Clean is part autobiography, part addiction and recovery primer, and part wake-up call about what’s really going on in schools, cars, malls, and wherever else kids come in contact with drugs and alcohol. Beckman, whose out-of-control drinking and drugging lasted more than a decade before he got sober at age 24, uses his story to illustrate the book’s fundamental message that recovery at a young age is very different from recovery in adulthood. "We get clean at 20 and feel like we’re still 13 emotionally," he writes. Clean is the real thing: an honest, nonjudgmental, peer-to-peer lifeline for young people thinking about experimenting with drugs, for those who are already experimenting or those who are already addicted, and for families and friends who want to understand and help.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #552468 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 250 pages

About the Author
Chris Beckman, a cast member of MTV's Real World, has toured the country since 2002, speaking to high school and college audiences about his addiction and recovery.

Customer Reviews

Necessary Addition to Therapists and Parents Resources...
I have just finished reading Clean for the second time. I went through it twice to make sure I saw the factual material as well as just the basic interest in hearing about Mr. Beckman's story.

As a professional therapist, I can highly recommend that this book will well serve two specific populations, at a minimum. I think that it is a "must read" for parents today. While the treatment paradigms for recovery are structured the same; I think parents need to know the reality of the disease of addictions. Not what they think they know, but what someone like their sons and daughters see or have experienced. To be frank, living today is not the life of your parents. In essence, an "eye openner" for their denial. This book relates well across all groups and strata as a source of accurate and graphic information. The use of Chris's life and the vignettes of other recovering addicts is a basic draw to the reading. While you may chuckle at the fact that a certain person sat in a garden talking to a gnome; it is a reality that we must face. I say a "must read" because we can not afford to be blind any longer to the potential destruction caused by addictive behaviors.

Second, I think this should become another reference in bibliotherapy for all who work with and are recovering from addictions.

I agree with the author when he states it is not for the addict in denial, and I also hope that it does not get pushed aside because the specifics of his own history may not match everyone with an addicition. The theme he discusses is universal, and it's appeal is universal in shedding some light on a subject that we need to understand and treat. It is raw reality and emotions. It is a walk throgh the process of getting lost because you need something, and then realizing you sold everything and don't have an answer.

Congratulations on sharing your wounds, Chris, because those will awaken the parents and the public alike to knowing about this epidemic behavior. If we start to see it as a disease, then we might move forward to healing.

EXCELLENT BOOK! GET CLEAN TODAY!
EXCELLENT BOOK! "CLEAN: A New Generation in Recovery Speaks Out" is a highly-recommended, well-written, informative, MUST-READ for anyone struggling with addiction, as well as family members, friends, and loved ones of those affected by addiction.

Chris Beckman, a former cast member of MTV's Real World:Chicago, shares his journey through addiction to recovery with refreshing frankness and honesty. In addition to Beckman's story, "Clean" also contains accounts of other young people dealing with addiction.

"Clean is also filled with an abundance of useful facts, resources, and websites. Topics include:

* Risk factors for addiction
* The Substances
* Side Effects
* Finding Help
* Recovery
* Health

Most importantly, "Clean" is filled with HOPE. Chris Beckman's story and others prove that addictions can be overcome, and recovery is definitely possible and achievable. DON'T WAIT -- GET "CLEAN" TODAY!!

I wish I could make this required reading for everyone
Chris Beckman writes honestly and beautifully about addiction, recovery, and being young. Clean: A New Generation in Recovery Speaks Out manages to be entertaining and accessible without glossing over harsh stories and sad facts. This is something that needs to be talked about more often. Clean is a very compelling read all around.