Beautiful Boy: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

One fall morning, David goes through his routine with Nic: they go for a walk in Golden Gate Park before making pancakes at home. The apartment is strewn with toys and Legos, and Nic sings as he dresses and gets into the car. They’re running late. Nic asks to be tickled and then changes the subject to ask if he can take Klingon in school so that he can watch the Star Trek movies without subtitles. David hurries to the school before remembering that it’s Saturday.

Soon after, David’s girlfriend (for whom he left Vicki) leaves him for another man. Nic has to contend with David’s heartbreak and his subsequent girlfriends. Once, when a woman stays over, David forgets to lock his bedroom door, and Nic crawls into bed in the morning to find the woman there. David later tries to explain why she is there, but he knows he has made a mistake. Shortly after, David takes a break from dating. Together, he and Nic spend time taking walks, riding cable cars, going to movies, cooking, and reading.

In summer 1989, David meets a woman named Karen at a friend’s dinner party. She lives in Manhattan and is visiting her parents; she is a painter and a writer of children’s books. David gets her phone number, and they agree to meet when David visits New York. They keep in touch by telephone and letters, seeing each other on visits to New York and California. After six months, he introduces Karen to Nic. They spend hours drawing cartoons together. Soon after, Karen moves in with Nic and David in California; they relocate to a new house with a backyard. 

In May, David and Karen marry. Nic, who is now nine, is nervous about the change but relieved when they return to the house and everything is basically the same. Karen and Nic grow closer: she takes him to museums, teaches him French, and plays video games with him. Karen resists motherly duties, but gradually she starts driving carpool and tasks Nic with various chores. Karen calls Nic “sputnik”; he calls her “Mama” or “KB.”

Being a stepmother is not completely natural for Karen, but she is amazed how much she enjoys being a parental figure. Sometimes she wishes she were Nic’s real mother, though she is realistic about the fact that she isn’t. Occasionally, David unintentionally undermines Karen’s authority, and Nic frequently misses Vicki. Nic calls Vicki often, though hearing her voice sometimes makes him more upset.

As Nic grows up, David recognizes that Nic is still clinging to some tokens of his childhood—but he is also approaching teenagerhood. He wears grungy flannel and styles his hair like Kurt Cobain. Nic gradually begins succumbing to peer pressure, but he continues to do well in school. In a report card, a teacher writes, “I wonder at the gifts he will undoubtedly bring to the world.”