Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

this is an incredible piece of non fiction writing — Patrick Redden Keefe is sharp and reflective, presents the facts through a deeply engaging narrative and I literally couldn’t stop listening - I listened to this non stop over the course of 3 days. This may be one of the most precise, excellent non fiction books I’ve ever read. I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about the opioid crisis in America (I’m from the UK and have no personal connection), and all of them have very limited details about the family — I feel like I have learned a lot despite already knowing a fair deal.

Quite simply, this is incredible and this writer is nothing short of brilliant. I will be seeking out his other works immediately.

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kaanderton99's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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neri's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad slow-paced

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nassuada's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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butlerebecca's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

4.25

sad that succession was only mentioned once, 13 hours in

I want to rate this a four but I’m giving it more because I think it has to do with the fact that I have already watched Dopesick and prefer the pace and arc of that, but recognize the point of this book is more Sackler and less first-hand addiction experience

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hilaryreadsbooks's review against another edition

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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.

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