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A review by babiefats
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
I have so many thoughts on this book--
Okay, first off, this was difficult for me to finish. In the beginning I thought I slogged through this so slowly and struggled to pick it up because of the content and empathizing with the topic and the lives lost to such a horrible time in American history. It wasn't until I started to push through that I recognized the difficulty I had in reading this and just "getting it done" was due to how outside the narrative I felt. This was written to the mothers. Macy attempted to really ground the narrative in empathy but did so with the white middle class mother.
As a black reader, my community not only felt severely under represented but the language was a hare's breath away from being marginalizing. That it by no means a qualm, though. I can't expect a white woman to take on the task of writing for ME and I did not come into this expecting that.
My qualm is with the lack of and possibly lack of understanding around the sheer breadth of victims this affected-- The elderly, for example, were so under represented in this and even today they often fall victim to over-medication. Addiction is more than a drug. I thought this would really take the time WITH the Dopesick, but this was not that.
I do appreciate a nod to the history. I wanted more science. But that was not the intent and I cannot be mad at the lack thereof. This felt like a character piece at times with a disjointed piling of facts and historical references.
On the other hand, there is a lot to say about a book that has me pacing and wanting to discuss it. This did that. Albeit in spite of--
Okay, first off, this was difficult for me to finish. In the beginning I thought I slogged through this so slowly and struggled to pick it up because of the content and empathizing with the topic and the lives lost to such a horrible time in American history. It wasn't until I started to push through that I recognized the difficulty I had in reading this and just "getting it done" was due to how outside the narrative I felt. This was written to the mothers. Macy attempted to really ground the narrative in empathy but did so with the white middle class mother.
As a black reader, my community not only felt severely under represented but the language was a hare's breath away from being marginalizing. That it by no means a qualm, though. I can't expect a white woman to take on the task of writing for ME and I did not come into this expecting that.
My qualm is with the lack of and possibly lack of understanding around the sheer breadth of victims this affected-- The elderly, for example, were so under represented in this and even today they often fall victim to over-medication. Addiction is more than a drug. I thought this would really take the time WITH the Dopesick, but this was not that.
I do appreciate a nod to the history. I wanted more science. But that was not the intent and I cannot be mad at the lack thereof. This felt like a character piece at times with a disjointed piling of facts and historical references.
On the other hand, there is a lot to say about a book that has me pacing and wanting to discuss it. This did that. Albeit in spite of--