Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

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

145 reviews

kathrynshields's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

5.0

My spooky season reading started a little early with this absolute horror story. I was familiar with the Sackler family’s connection to the opioid epidemic, but Patrick Radden Keefe expertly untangles a complex and complicated history spanning three generations. The material is dense at times, but the story is captivating. This is an important work of journalism and storytelling that everyone, directly or indirectly affected by opioids, should read. 

*Extra points to the author for a consistently correct pronunciation of “Appalachia” in the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Medical trauma and Classism

Minor: Cancer

lectures_de_chloe's review

informative medium-paced

2.0

J'ai malheureusement trouvé cet ouvrage interminable. Il y avait trop de détails à mon goût : toute la portion sur l'obsession d'Arthur Sackler pour l'art japonais, les multiples unions, divorces et tromperies perpétués par Arthur et ses frères ainsi que leurs enfants, les chicanes familiales, etc. ont ajoutés de multiples longueurs sans lien avec le sujet auquel je m'intéressais, soit la crise des opioïdes et l'impact du marketing pharmaceutique perpétué par Purdue pharma sur cette crise. Néanmoins, si vous vous intéressez à l'histoire familiale des Sackler, ce livre pourrait vous intéresser. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

grassy_reads's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Incredibly detailed and informative while still telling a compelling story- covers many different aspects of the opioid crisis from the details of the sackler family to possible solutions 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

lbornhorst6158's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

dilani's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

wow, just wow. very eye-opening for me as i never knew about the origins of the opioid epidemic. the greed and the lengths the Sackler family are willing to go through to protect themselves is infuriating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Death and Suicide

rhubarbpi3's review

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was absolutely riveting!!! I listened to the audiobook and it was wonderfully researched. I loved the way that the story built on the idea of dynasty and legacy — I think it really set up the later questions about responsibility and culpability very well. Fuck the Sacklers obvi. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Classism

bibliomich's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

Patrick Radden Keefe is an author who has been on my radar for a long time, and I'm glad that I finally decided to listen to Empire of Pain.

First of all, I want to note that Keefe narrates his own audiobook, and he is an excellent narrator, so I highly recommend the audiobook, should you enjoy/prefer listening to your books.

The core thesis of this book is that the decisions of several generations of one single family shaped the pharmaceutical industry of today, as well as significantly contributed to the current opioid crisis. Keefe's research is thorough, substantial, and tremendously convincing. The story is compelling, devastating, and infuriating.

I highly recommend Empire of Pain and personally intend to read Keefe's other books soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer and Antisemitism

Patrick Radden Keefe is an author who has been on my radar for a long time, and I'm glad that I finally decided to listen to Empire of Pain. First of all, I want to note that Keefe narrates his own audiobook, and he is an excellent narrator, so I highly recommend the audiobook, should you enjoy/prefer listening to your books. The core thesis of this book is that the decisions of several generations of one single family shaped the pharmaceutical industry of today, as well as significantly contributed to the current opioid crisis. Keefe's research is thorough, substantial, and tremendously convincing. The story is compelling, devastating, and infuriating. I highly recommend Empire of Pain and personally intend to read Keefe's other books soon.

emziesreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

By crafting the narrative as the story of dynasty behind Oxycodine, Radden Keefe has given us a fresh take on the opioid crisis but also a way to explore capitalism, greed, politics and the creation of legacy. It's a fantastic and compelling story albeit one that is tragically true.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

smaber23's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

5.0

This is required reading for everyone, but especially those of us who work in healthcare, social work, education, and public health.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Suicide

annikathereader's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Grief, and Medical trauma