Tweak: Growing Up On Methamphetamines

Nic is a deeply troubled young man. As the child of two successful and relatively well-known journalists, he grows up privileged. However, his unconventional childhood traumatizes him and leads him towards drug addiction. Nic does not specify how old he was when his parents separated, but the separation clearly has a tremendous impact on him. He grows up with his father, who fails to offer him any semblance of a normal childhood. Instead, he takes him to parties and exposes him to drugs, sex, and alcohol at a very young age. Although Nic does not resent his father for treating him like a friend rather than a child, his memoir attests to the harmful effect that this early exposure has on his later drug addiction. Once Nic’s father remarries and reforms his behavior, Nic feels as if he is one of his past mistakes rather than a real member of his new family. Growing up apart from his mother also impacts Nic negatively as he tries to replace her emotionally through his romantic relationships. He realizes that he chooses older women who remind him of his distant mother and looks to them for validation.