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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
107 reviews
nadia's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
My second Patrick Radden Keefe of the year — after Say Nothing — and he didn't disappoint.
What I love about Radden Keefe's books is how they read like fiction at times but are packed with so much detail. You can see that he cuts no corners with his research.
I knew nothing about the Sacklers going into this, which added to the intrigue. However, I do think the fact that I could only pick up the book in small bursts, and often when I was feeling tired, impacted my enjoyment. I found it harder to stay focused.
A fantastic book to read if you want to know more about the opioid crisis or the Sackler family, or if you're into narrative nonfiction books that feature multiple generations of one family or themes of corporate fraud/corruption or medicine/pharmaceuticals.
What I love about Radden Keefe's books is how they read like fiction at times but are packed with so much detail. You can see that he cuts no corners with his research.
I knew nothing about the Sacklers going into this, which added to the intrigue. However, I do think the fact that I could only pick up the book in small bursts, and often when I was feeling tired, impacted my enjoyment. I found it harder to stay focused.
A fantastic book to read if you want to know more about the opioid crisis or the Sackler family, or if you're into narrative nonfiction books that feature multiple generations of one family or themes of corporate fraud/corruption or medicine/pharmaceuticals.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Moderate: Suicide
dancingdugongs's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Drug use
Minor: Antisemitism and Suicide
hilaryreadsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
[Thank you Anchor Books for the gifted copy]
Many of us know that powerful people are capable of terrible things, but many of us do not know what those terrible things often are. Patrick Radden Keefe’s EMPIRE OF PAIN: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE SACKLER DYNASTY is an incredible tome of research and investigation that exposes just a part of this terrible world. Focused less on the actual opioid epidemic, EMPIRE OF PAIN hones in on this powerful family and how greed, ambition, and power led to this crisis. Keefe writes with empathy and clarity, and his storytelling, as it was with SAY NOTHING, was phenomenal. Even at 500 pages, I finished this book in just two nights.
What stood out to me the most was the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma’s manipulation of pain patients (and I appreciate Keefe’s note at the end explaining his intention to not contribute to stigmatization of those who use opioids, but rather to demonstrate that the Sacklers and Purdue “have for decades invoked the interests of pain patients as a fig leaf for their own avarice.” The facts that Keefe presents behind this are sobering—there were multiple instances where the Sacklers and other Purdue executives ignored addiction data that foresaw the crisis; instead, they would deny any links and continue to sell Oxy, even using pain patients as examples of Oxy’s effectiveness in their ads. There was, as well, Purdue Pharma’s intention to start selling addiction treatment drugs that target the very market of addiction they created (a business model used by many big pharma companies).
EMPIRE OF PAIN will stay with me for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: Suicide and Self harm
stephaniezd's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Impeccably researched and compelling in it's telling. Easily the best non-fiction I have read this year. I have already recommended to several people. Jaw-dropping at times in the unabashed ridiculousness that the focuses of the tale engaged in. Just an incredible story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Addiction, Classism, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Chronic illness
gnataliec's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death
kdsmoove's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
“It is a peculiar hallmark of the American economy that you can produce a dangerous product and effectively off-load any legal liability for whatever destruction that product may cause by pointing to the individual responsibility of the consumer.”
*insert annie screaming gif”
the amount of times i screamed at the radio or texted someone “just when i thought these people couldn’t get any worse, they fucking do!” throughout reading this is not a low number. when i tell you i was HOOKED from the beginning and somehow not intimidated by the length.
i knew some about the opioid crisis, even enough to associate the sackler name with it but i had *no idea* just how deep the rot went. i didn’t realize that arthur sackler was the mastermind behind the way the entire pharmaceutical marketing schemes work now. that he basically invented sales and created his own fucking sources and oh my GOD. it was a solid five or six hours in before we even got to Reagan and i did the whole *leo pointing at the tv gif* thing to the stereo.
and of course today to tidy it up it HAD to be the fucking trump administration willing to let them off with a slap on the wrist. i am so mad, i will be staying mad. you should read this. but beware, there’s a lot of trigger warnings to check and it will make you very mad. One of the lines he used was “rip shit pissed” which sounds a lot funnier out loud than it does written down but i will be using it moving forward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Suicide
mniziolek's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Death
samarakroeger's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
4.25
fascinating and extensive look at the villain origin story behind the opioid epidemic. as addicting to read as oxy (although this is certainly a slow release).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Drug abuse
mkrabbe's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
megang519's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Infidelity, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death
Moderate: Cancer and Chronic illness
Minor: Suicide attempt, Antisemitism, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis