My husband and I got free tickets to the premiere of this when it first came to town. It was a nightmare to sit through - the ONLY thing that kept me from walking out was knowing that it was a true story, and I really wanted to find out how the guy was able to not only survive that mess and live to tell his story, but how he did so without completely losing his sanity! Very sad story. Knowing it was a true story (and that the guy triumphs in the end) gave it some redemption in my eyes, but the most redeeming factor of it was that it made me VERY grateful for MY childhood, as messy as it might have been at times!

Addendum: I'm not sure you could pay me enough to sit through it a second time...or read the book. But I DID thoroughly enjoy the music - lots of great songs in there. I'll probably buy the soundtrack.