Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
Clear relation of several plagues in America over the last 20 years, and an explication of the illegal corporate and political forces that unleashed and profited from them. Good reporting, and cogent political and cultural thinking. Ominous ending in 2016, just before the election shows what deep jeopardy we are in with the new, full out corporate power-unleashed administration.
Before reading this book, I was incredibly ignorant about the opioid epidemic in the US. I knew it was a big problem, but had little concept of how it started, why opiates are so pernicious, or how this epidemic manifested itself. Reading Dreamland opened my eyes to all of this. Quinones covers the chemical composition of opiates, the supply chain of heroin, the economic factors leading to both the supply and demand for heroin, the role of the pharmaceutical industry in the addiction crisis, the history of medical/scientific views on opiates, and more. He even brings up philosophical questions about pain and pleasure.
Dreamland is written to be accessible to non-experts like myself, and the story of American opiates is told in a patchwork of brief chapters of gripping narratives. It really got me interested in the opiate epidemic and in public health more broadly. I would highly recommend it to anyone with those interests!
Dreamland is written to be accessible to non-experts like myself, and the story of American opiates is told in a patchwork of brief chapters of gripping narratives. It really got me interested in the opiate epidemic and in public health more broadly. I would highly recommend it to anyone with those interests!
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
A very detailed and frankly depressing view into how we got to where we are with regards to opioid addiction and abuse. I do feel like the author was quite repetitive at times, and that with a bit of more aggressive editing, the book could be cut down by 15% or so.
That said, I’m very glad I read it.
That said, I’m very glad I read it.
I read this book as someone who has dealt with heroin addiction first-hand with a family member. I wanted to know more about how this drug spread and became so popular and readily available. This book is incredibly informative and gives an interesting yet depressing history of how opiates and subsequently heroin got so widespread in the United States. It helped to read accounts of other people who are experiencing the same thing my family has gone through and to know we are far from alone.
Repetitive and at times hard to follow, but incredibly well-researched and informative.
slow-paced
A balanced portrait of the victims and the Mexican traffickers though I couldn't help but come away absolutely pissed off at how hopeful and heartwarming it is that we're treating drug addicts as humans now that it's happening to white people. Not really a fault of the book, though I wish that aspect was more than a footnote.
I went back and forth between a 4 and a 5. Some very good reporting but the writing got quite dry. And some of the ways he talked about obesity and personal responsibility were outdated and offensive.
Very interesting and super well researched. Zeroes in on human impacts/players in story. Just a little too dense and in depth