"We can live the stories or hear about them later from others. I choose the former."
Charlie Sheen should not be alive to tell these stories.
But in The Book of Sheen, the star who has defied all odds – decades of addiction (to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and more), an HIV diagnosis, three divorces, a dust-up with the Sinaloan cartel, and other challenges that will leave readers stunned – finally presents the truth... or, at least his version. ("The facts are the facts; how I choose to interpret or deconstruct them falls squarely on me," Sheen writes.)
From his childhood spent on movie sets for blockbusters like Apocalypse Now; to the golden days of 1980s Hollywood, filled with heartthrobs like Rob Lowe and Sean Penn; 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, 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 Estevez; 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.