The Book of Sheen: A Memoir

The Book of Sheen is a detailed and reflective account of addiction. Through his own experiences, Charlie Sheen shares with his audience what it feels like to be addicted to many different things at once. At various points in his life, he develops addictions to alcohol, drugs (legal and illegal), gambling, and sex. Sheen is frank about his addictions, and while he may regret his actions, he is honest with his audience: Alcohol, drugs, and sex made him feel good, and, by his own admission, he had a great deal of fun. However, while these various addictions made him feel good, they did not confront the deeper psychological traumas that acted as catalysts for his addiction. As his memoir develops, it reveals that rather than any substance or sensation, fame itself emerges as perhaps Sheen’s most fundamental addiction.

Every addiction in Sheen’s life is a product of his fame, going back to the set of his first film, on which he discovers that his stutter can be mediated with alcohol use. Once he starts to win acclaim for his acting, he feels pressure to perform. He drinks and does drugs to deal with this pressure, creating a spiral of self-destruction that is super-charged by his fame.