Beautiful Boy

Nic flies to Vicki’s house for summer vacation, and Sheff reflects that he “loathe[s] joint custody” because it “presupposes that children can do just as well when they are divided between two homes, each defined by a different parent […] and a jumble of expectations, discipline, and values that often contradict one another” (77). A week later, he interviews a renowned child psychologist who specializes in the effects of divorce on children. Having followed the children of divorced couples for 25 years, her work reveals that “more than one-third of these kids experienced moderate to severe depression and a significant number were troubled and underachieving” (78). 

When Nic returns, Sheff reflects on how joint custody has affected his son. He believes that it has made him “more responsible, sensitive, worldly, introspective, and sagacious than he might been otherwise” (83). However, he also believes that Nic suffered greatly from the disunity and disorganization in his life and concludes that “at the least Nic should not have been forced to do the traveling. We should have” (83).

Nic appears to be settling in well to his new high school that resembles “a small liberal arts college” (85), and the “school year sails along smoothly” (85).