The Book of Sheen by Charlie Sheen

 

Of all the Hollywood bad boys in history, Charlie Sheen might be the baddest of them all. Now nearly eight years sober, for the first time, and in his own words, Charlie—who wrote the book himself—will truly tell all. He writes of his childhood on film sets with his father Martin Sheen, to his teen years making home movies with the Penn brothers, to early fame with roles in Platoon, Wall Street, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, to his breakout sitcom role on Spin City, and his controversy-riddled time coping with the chaos of divorces and drugs on the set of Two and a Half Men. Charlie Sheen should not be alive to tell these stories.

The Book of Sheen is a heartfelt (and hilarious) memoir of the mistakes we make and the demons we can’t shake. It is a candid portrait of the complicated, controversial, and one-of-a-kind Charlie Sheen.

From the golden days of 1980s Hollywood and Los Angeles, filled with heartthrobs like Rob Lowe, Sean Penn, and Sheen's brother Emilio Estevez; to the humid jungles of the Philippines and mock-army training that crossed dangerously into life-threatening for the filming of Platoon; to the early aughts' sitcom dominance replete with coke-filled writers' rooms, every Sheen anecdote drips with shocking lucidity, humor, and self-deprecation.
 
Sheen deftly leads readers through his childhood as the son of award-winning actor Martin Sheen (a "Cathoholic"), which took the family from New York to Mexico to Italy and beyond; his competitive brotherhood against fellow teen heartthrob and Brat Pack member Emilio; his debilitating stutter that continued into adulthood and which he attempted to hide from producers and directors; his friendships with Chris and Sean Penn, Rob Lowe, Nic Cage, Matthew Perry, and other troubled stars of the era; his adventures on and off camera for films like Platoon and Wall Street and shows like Spin City and Two and a Half Men; his challenges in fatherhood and the kids that ultimately got him sober; and more. Woven throughout is a constant: addiction, and Sheen's perpetual battle with it.
 
Riddled with regrets, filled with humor, and finally candid, Sheen delivers a truly hilarious no-holds-barred memoir, one fitting for a star of his caliber and controversy. Simon & Schuster

Posting memories of 2016 is the viral internet trend these days but if you rewind the clock even further to Spring of 2011 you may remember #winning and all the viral memes it spawned after Charlie Sheen’s very public meltdown and subsequent firing from his hit TV series.  This is just one of the many stories Sheen reveals his truth on in his memoir, The Book of Sheen. 

My favorite parts of the memoir were the stories he told about growing up and making scripted movies with his brother Emilio Estevez along with the  neighborhood kids like the Penn siblings and being on famous film sets and locations with father Martin.  It was really cool to hear how creative he was and the talent he had from a very young age.  Sheen also delves deep into his struggles with substance abuse.  He doesn’t hold back from the humbling, embarrassing and life threatening experiences he went through.  Despite his harrowing experiences and struggles he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.  At one point he quips that all the films he made in 1997 are so bad that no one would watch them.  As a connoisseur of bad movies, I accept your challenge Mr. Sheen.  I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir and wish Charlie all the best for success in his sobriety.

I borrowed The Book of Sheen from my local library as can you or you can pick it up at your local bookstore or online retailer.