Reviews tagging 'Death'

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

53 reviews

carpfish's review against another edition

challenging informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Mental illness, and Drug use

Moderate: Medical trauma and Medical content

libbyhb's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

After listening to Say Nothing, I immediately lucked out and got a skip-the-line copy of this from Libby! This was so well done, as expected. I liked following the journey through Arthur Sackler's life, and then through the development of Purdue Pharma and impact of OxyContin, and that Patrick Radden Keefe focused on the thread of the Sacklers' obsession with naming philanthropy and the later "un-naming". Obviously it was rage-enducing, but I feel like I learned so much. Can't wait to read more PRK!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide and Death

Minor: Antisemitism

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Suicide

ticktock's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Antisemitism, Suicide, Addiction, Death, and Drug use

alexhaydon's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicide, Drug use, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

maggies's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A tough but absorbing read/listen. Keefe's style of informative non-fiction as a narrative is engaging, and the story development was readable, high praise for a work of non-fiction! Recommended.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Death, Addiction, and Drug abuse

mmccombs's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

4.5

A wow of a read! Like most people, I’m aware of the opioid crisis and have been impacted by it, but truly had no context or history or even a real understanding of what OxyContin is. This was so well researched, expertly paced, and kept me hooked the whole time. It was really digestible and I left this angry but in a good way. A case study in all of ways capitalism destroys others and then ourselves and all of the WILD legal loopholes that rich people gain access to when they need to avoid responsibility for literally anything. I think this should be a must read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

This provides an excellent history and background to the Sackler family, the owners of the privately owned drug company Purdue Pharma. The book takes a narrative chronological approach to the events that display the Sackler's connection to the current opioid crisis in the United States. We are given a glimpse into each pertinent Sackler family member's life. We are shown how they came from humble beginnings only to eventually become notorious for their role in the opioid crisis. The author progressively shows how the Sacklers used Purdue Pharma and the aggressive marketing of Oxycontin to build their wealth on the addiction of a nation to opioids (specifically their opioid, Oxycontin). Additionally, they used the company name to gain immunity from legal prosecution. It was incredible to see how greed drove a family to knowingly push the sale of a drug that was destroying thousands of lives. It emphasizes the human susceptibility to corruption regardless of initial well-meaning intentions. It allows the narrative to take on an eerie tone as it progresses without obscuring the facts. The narrator of the audiobook is the author himself and his voice is serious but immersive. This made every important point in the book stand out and remain engaging. I learned a lot through my journey with this book and I highly recommend the audio book for this one because it is excellent. Might be one of the best non fictions of the year for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death

katylizg's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Death, and Suicide

arianashea's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Death and Drug abuse

Minor: Racism