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mer_dont_care's review against another edition
5.0
okay I think this book is everything I want in a non-fiction exposé. honestly just like got numb to all the horrible things that happened by the end because every page was just so jaw dropping. really liked the author’s tone and style. he did a great job of weaving together over a century of documents and evidence into a cohesive narrative story.
I will say this book is very dense and might not be for everyone. it took a lot of effort for me to read and I broke up each of the sections with other books lol. definitely there are other books/podcasts/articles that capture this story more succinctly.
I will say this book is very dense and might not be for everyone. it took a lot of effort for me to read and I broke up each of the sections with other books lol. definitely there are other books/podcasts/articles that capture this story more succinctly.
signorponza's review against another edition
5.0
Chi mi conosce probabilmente sa che tra i miei generi preferiti c’è quello del giornalismo investigativo. Non dovrebbe dunque stupire che Empire of Pain (l'ho letto in inglese prima di sapere che sarebbe presto uscito in italiano) è stata una delle mie letture a cinque stelle di quest’anno, un libro da oltre 450 pagine nella versione originale (più di 500 se si considera la bibliografia; oltre 600 in quella italiana) lette nel giro di cinque giorni. È la storia della famiglia Sackler, ossia delle persone che hanno gestito per molti anni l’azienda Purdue Pharma, responsabile dell’ideazione e della commercializzazione di un farmaco, l’Oxycontin, ritenuto da molti come responsabile dell’avvio della crisi degli oppiodi negli Stati Uniti. Per intenderci, è la stessa storia raccontata nella mini-serie Dopesick (disponibile su Disney+). Tuttavia, nel testo ci si concentra meno sulle storie delle vittime e di più sui membri della famiglia Sackler, sulle origini della loro fortuna, sul modo in cui hanno cercato sempre di associare il loro nome alla filantropia e dissociarlo il più possibile dalle malefatte dell’azienda di famiglia, fino ad arrivare allo sgretolamento del loro impero causato dalle inchieste e dalle citazioni in giudizio. Lascio invece a chi deciderà di leggerlo giudicare se il finale sia lieto o meno (io propendo per questa seconda opzione), ma in ogni caso è un’ottima riflessione su come funziona oggi il mondo del business e anche quello della giustizia negli Stati Uniti. È uscito in Italia il 13 settembre.
charlotteg's review
dark
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Suicide
Minor: Antisemitism
mommaslonglegs's review against another edition
4.0
3 stars for enjoyment, but 5 stars for research and writing.
This wasn't really an enjoyable read but I did learn a lot and might never trust a pharmaceutical company, or the FDA for that matter , again. I understand why Keefe did as much background as he did but dear lord does it gets long. If this topic at all interests you, you could really just read one of the books in this tome.
Book 1: Historical background of the Sackler family (this was the most interesting in my opinion).
Book 2: The start of the opioid epidemic (this one was the most skippable).
Book 3: The court cases and modern implications going all the way up to 2021.
This wasn't really an enjoyable read but I did learn a lot and might never trust a pharmaceutical company, or the FDA for that matter , again. I understand why Keefe did as much background as he did but dear lord does it gets long. If this topic at all interests you, you could really just read one of the books in this tome.
Book 1: Historical background of the Sackler family (this was the most interesting in my opinion).
Book 2: The start of the opioid epidemic (this one was the most skippable).
Book 3: The court cases and modern implications going all the way up to 2021.
fraserkate's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
5.0
WHACK THEM! GET THEM AGAIN! GET THEM FOR ME!
A thorough, engrossing chronicle of one of the most nauseating tales to ever come across my lap. Though I haven't personally lost someone to opioid addiction, I was horribly offended at so many points by the sociopathic tendencies of this cesspool of a family.
It simultaneously broke my heart and filled me with pride to read about all of the people who stood up for themselves and their loved ones in their determination to not let the Sacklers get away with it. I was also inspired by the stories of the legal practitioners, across party lines, who continued in their pursuit of justice and refused to fold under pressure. This is a crushingly awful and enraging story, but also one about doing the right thing.
After the amazing book that was <i>Say Nothing</i> and now this, I will basically read anything by Patrick Radden Keefe.
May they spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders.
A thorough, engrossing chronicle of one of the most nauseating tales to ever come across my lap. Though I haven't personally lost someone to opioid addiction, I was horribly offended at so many points by the sociopathic tendencies of this cesspool of a family.
It simultaneously broke my heart and filled me with pride to read about all of the people who stood up for themselves and their loved ones in their determination to not let the Sacklers get away with it. I was also inspired by the stories of the legal practitioners, across party lines, who continued in their pursuit of justice and refused to fold under pressure. This is a crushingly awful and enraging story, but also one about doing the right thing.
After the amazing book that was <i>Say Nothing</i> and now this, I will basically read anything by Patrick Radden Keefe.
May they spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders.