Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

“It is a peculiar hallmark of the American economy that you can produce a dangerous product and effectively off-load any legal liability for whatever destruction that product may cause by pointing to the individual responsibility of the consumer.”

*insert annie screaming gif”

the amount of times i screamed at the radio or texted someone “just when i thought these people couldn’t get any worse, they fucking do!” throughout reading this is not a low number. when i tell you i was HOOKED from the beginning and somehow not intimidated by the length.

i knew some about the opioid crisis, even enough to associate the sackler name with it but i had *no idea* just how deep the rot went. i didn’t realize that arthur sackler was the mastermind behind the way the entire pharmaceutical marketing schemes work now. that he basically invented sales and created his own fucking sources and oh my GOD. it was a solid five or six hours in before we even got to Reagan and i did the whole *leo pointing at the tv gif* thing to the stereo.

and of course today to tidy it up it HAD to be the fucking trump administration willing to let them off with a slap on the wrist. i am so mad, i will be staying mad. you should read this. but beware, there’s a lot of trigger warnings to check and it will make you very mad. One of the lines he used was “rip shit pissed” which sounds a lot funnier out loud than it does written down but i will be using it moving forward.

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Surreal, insightful, albeit and clinical deep dive into the depraved and unhinged Sackler criminal billionaire family. This book is one of many definitive proofs that the billionaire is incompatible with humanity at this point and greed is an addiction as equally destructive and demoralizing as any substance addiction if not more or worse. The lengths the rotting rich go to to keep their corrosive money are so twisted but it's also morbidly impressive how they weave the web of connections and buy their way into getting the results they want. Particularly this family who honestly wouldn't have made it without ass kissers and enablers and unscrupulous people making their perversity possible bc most of them are so offensively insensitive and stupid.

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emily's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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samarakroeger's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

4.25

fascinating and extensive look at the villain origin story behind the opioid epidemic. as addicting to read as oxy (although this is certainly a slow release).

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