Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

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

98 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

kimby213's review

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Patrick Radden Keefe has done it again! 👏 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

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

leontyna's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.0

The book was really dry but at the same time very informative and well structured. What it lacked in my opinion was a longer piece about the drug, I finished the book not knowing whether there are any legit uses for OxyContin or safe ways to use it. Advocating for people suffering chronic pain was only used as Sackler's excuse and not explored further.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Minor: Death and Suicide

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.

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

milliebrierley's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

charlotteg's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Suicide

Minor: Antisemitism

abigail_lo's review

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

5.0

the only reason it took me so long to read this book is how goddamn infuriating it is. multiple times, i had to close the book before i became overpowered by sheer rage at the fucking nerve of the sacklers + everyone else they bought off. in terms of my takeaways: immense wealth and nepotism will be the literal death of our society. when corporations are allowed to buy their way through all the regulations in place in what amounts to a caricature of free-market capitalism, real people will always suffer. like he says in the afterword: while pain management is a very complex question and opioids are helpful to many people, my heart aches for those who lost their lives due to big pharma's (and specifically purdue's) lust for money. fuck capitalism -- eat the rich <3

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic