“Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son” by Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez with Hope Edelman (Free Press, 432 pgs., $27)

LOS ANGELES — Martin Sheen was a struggling 21-year-old stage actor when his first son, Emilio Estevez, was born. Sheen, seventh of 10 children in a family that knew him as Ramon Antonio Gerardo Estevez instead of his stage name, was more accustomed to having siblings than being a father. He felt more like a brother to Emilio, and that dynamic has defined their relationship to this day.

In their new memoir, “Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son,” which was written with Hope Edelman, the two examine the nature of their relationship and the ways it formed and has informed both of their lives.

Their family is discussed with deep respect — this isn’t the book you’d read to find out about son and brother Charlie Sheen’s “winning” meltdown last year. In fact, there is very little about Charlie.

Instead, it’s a loving account that’s also very candid, staring unflinchingly at the painful moments, including Martin Sheen’s alcohol-fueled psychotic breakdown on the set of “Apocalypse Now,” seen through Emilio’s eyes and recalled with the humiliated clarity of a self-conscious teenager.

“There are a lot of truths that are revealed, but they are really about us and our relationship,” Estevez says over lunch with Sheen at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. “I always imagine that the people who have come and gone in my life are gonna go straight to the index to see how many times their names are mentioned. But this is not one of those books. We don’t trash anybody.”

The book unfolded over a period of a year and half during which Edelman conducted extensive interviews with both men, had those interviews transcribed, wrote her interpretation of those transcripts and handed them off to Sheen and Estevez, who edited and rewrote as necessary.

“She’d send the transcripts back to us and we’d read them and say, ‘Oh my God, you can’t put this in the book,’” said Sheen.

Sheen and Estevez have a natural back-and-forth that is at once playful and firm, warm and exasperated. Perhaps this is because Sheen has relied on Estevez. When the family relocated to Malibu, Estevez often took on the role of parent, watching out for his three younger siblings when his parents were busy with Sheen’s rising career.

More often than not, Estevez enjoyed watching his father work, eventually becoming interested in a career in acting himself.