The Book of Sheen: A Memoir

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What were your overall impressions of The Book of Sheen? Discuss what you liked most and least about the book.

2. Consider your previous understanding of Charlie Sheen and his work. Has your perspective on him and his work changed? Why or why not?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Sheen’s life is dominated by Hollywood, from his childhood traveling with Martin Sheen to sets to his own acting career. Which part of the book (if any) elicited a particularly strong response from you?

2. Charlie Sheen comes from an acting family, and in part, changes his name to Sheen to connect with his father’s legacy. How do family legacy and ancestry manifest in your own life, personal or professional?

3. Throughout the memoir, Charlie details his attempts to manage his addictions and maintain sobriety. Explore connections between your own life and his experiences. Have you ever struggled with an ongoing personal challenge? How did you handle it?

4. The Book of Sheen highlights the differences between the Hollywood society he grew up in and mainstream American society at the time. Have you ever felt that you lived in circumstances that diverged from what was seen as the norm?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Sheen’s memoir is peppered with references to celebrities, detailing anecdotes that juxtapose their humanity with their media representations. Discuss the book’s commentary on contemporary celebrity culture. How has celebrity changed over the decades that Sheen’s memoir details?

2. The Book of Sheen is very much concerned with family. How does the memoir’s examination of the role of family in Sheen’s life enter into contemporary conversation about the place in an individual’s life?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Consider the narrative structure of The Book of Sheen, in which Charlie offers commentary as a narrator on the events of his past. How does the way Sheen has chosen to arrange the text affect his portrayal of himself and the narrative’s events?

2. Sheen narrates his memoir from a first-person perspective, giving the reader access to his thoughts and reflections. What is the effect of this choice? How might the narrative be different if told from a more distant, third-person point of view?

3. Discuss Sheen’s use of setting in the memoir. How do the many diverse settings he describes help to develop the thematic meaning of the text?

4. Discuss Sheen’s reverence for filmmaking, particularly as juxtaposed with his perspective on his own acting roles. What is the effect of this contrast? How does it develop him as a person?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If this book were adapted into a movie, who—other than Charlie Sheen—would you cast in the lead roles? Which events described in the memoir would you focus on in the adaptation? Is there anything you would leave out?

2. Imagine Charlie playing some of Martin Sheen’s most iconic roles, like Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now or Kit in Badlands. How might Charlie play these roles differently?