Without warning, Freemantle is inspired to sketch and paint the endless Gulf of Mexico that stretches away in front of his rented house, then finds himself inserting abstract objects into his work from memories of his accident, family, and unexplained objects that you just know are sinister.

A companion piece to his son Nic's memoir Tweak, Beautiful Boy is David Sheff's story of dealing with a son going through crystal meth addiction. From feeling partly responsible to watching his son's life crumble, Sheff's account is more measured and literary.

He turns his poetic prose to the story of a young Irish woman on a quest to understand the universe and her place in it through the teachings of witchcraft. The plot isn't nearly as robust as the beauty of the writing however, so it's not as easy to fall in love with the book as it is with Cohelo's other work, such as The Alchemist.