Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

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

105 reviews

korpney's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt

laurenleigh's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

I am telling everyone to read this, especially when read alongside Demon Copperhead!! This was exactly what I want out of nonfiction. I want to learn, but while being engaged in a cohesive narrative. The amount of research Keefe has done is staggering, but he has communicated his findings so clearly. I was so hooked the whole time, even when I was enraged. (Greed is one hell of a drug.) After reading this and Kingsolver’s aforementioned novel, I feel so much more informed on the opioid crisis. It’s terrifying, depressing, and fascinating to see the similarities between the pharmaceutical, tobacco, and firearms industries. Radden doesn’t necessarily make his stance on the subject a secret, but he also doesn’t throw it constantly in your face.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Classism, Terminal illness, and Suicide

lottiestarling's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction

thundrflap's review against another edition

challenging informative tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Drug use, Ableism, Mental illness, Addiction, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Cancer, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Pandemic/Epidemic

maggie_the_ferocious_reader's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

4.75

🤯🤯🤯 Holy cow this is well done & also shocking. What a pernicious company & policies. It's bananas to consider that the family that marketed and sold Valium ended up marketing & selling Oxy & just wooowwwww. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gaslighting

amyvl93's review

challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

 An excellent narrative non-fiction look at the Sackler family, their rise and purchase of Purdue pharmaceuticals, extensive donations, and the invention of oxycontin, leading to a rapid rise and fall as the drug becomes a leading culprit for the opiod crisis in the United States.

Reading this in the same year as Demon Copperhead has really given me further understanding of the opiod crisis, and this made me absolutely rage. You can understand how the Sacklers captured something of the American vibe during their rise - Arthur, Raymond and Mortimer were children of migrants to the USA who lost most of their wealth during the 1929 Wall Street crash and were able (particularly led by the frightingly singular Arthur) to gain huge wealth, power and influence which then enabled them and their children to avoid being held accountable for their actions for years, and who per a recent court judgement, will never face criminal charges for what they did.

 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Infidelity

luckyone's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Classism, Bullying, and Antisemitism

Minor: Suicide, Chronic illness, Stalking, Ableism, and Antisemitism

sydapel's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

4.5

Easily my favorite of Radden Keefe's books so far, and an incredibly thoughtful and in depth story about the now infamous Sackler family. there's so much in here about how this family has been taking advantage of the system since Day 1, how their philanthropy has always been an offshoot of their need to elevate their name and their refusal to halt the train of profit lead to a chilling downfall. I wish the book had going into a bit more detail about how capitalist systems allow and even actively encourage this type of greed, but the author does admit he was more focused on the members of this elusive family. Highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Antisemitism, and Death

hannahmci's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction