When Chris Beckman joined the cast of Real World Chicago in 2003, he was breaking new ground. He wasn't the first gay cast member on the show, of course, but he was the first cast member to talk openly about being in recovery.

Beckman began drinking as a teenager, when he coming to terms with his sexuality. He stated in one interview: "In coming out for me, I was running from how I was going to be accepted by my family, the shame, the guilt, and the religion I grew up with... and will my parents accept me? It was easier to just go out to a club and just kind of run, and the fear overcame me. And before I knew it, I just had this problem that blew up."

Beckman got help for his addiction to alcohol and drugs and began attending regular support group meetings. When Real World Chicago began filming he had been clean and sober for eight months.

Now, Chris is using his Real World fame to reach out to other young people in recovery with his new book, Clean: A New Generation in Recovery Speaks Out. Written by Chris with contributions from dozens of teens and twentysomethings in recovery, Clean is part autobiography, part addiction and recovery primer, and part wake-up call.

Chris emphasizes how recovery recovery at a young age is very different from recovery in adulthood. "We get clean at 20 and feel like we're still 13 emotionally," he writes.

Clean: A New Generation in Recovery Speaks Out: Get this book now from Barnes & Noble