Early Books on the Opioid Epidemic in Review

I’ve been accumulating books about the opioid epidemic on my to-read list for years, so I’ve decided to just read them all in publication order. I was interested to understand how people thought about opioid abuse when this was published in 2003 vs now. It turned out that my copy of this book had been updated in 2018, but the only obvious change was a short epilogue. Overall, this book felt very light. My edition was only 218 small pages. This was well written and engaging, but I wanted more depth. More info on Purdue Pharma, the doctors, the patients, or their families – I think any of these topics could have been explored in more depth. It was a decent intro though and certainly enough to reveal the callous disregard Purdue Pharma execs had for people’s lives.

Title: Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic
Author: Sam Quinones
Source: Library
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:

This book had the depth I wanted from the first book. The author followed the opioid epidemic from some of the earliest pivotal events in the 1970s through the time of publication in 2015. He told incredible personal stories from a wide range of perspectives. I particularly appreciated the many quotes from interviews the author conducted. I also think that the author’s focus on the importation of heroin by drug dealers from one small town in Mexico will make this book a unique look at this topic. Mostly, this was really great narrative nonfiction. My one complaint is that the author occasionally shows some contempt for people impacted by addition and for fat people. He seems to think that these are problems of similar severity that could both be solved by just a little personal responsibility. This didn’t happen frequently enough to significantly impact my enjoyment of the book, but I think it’s worth mentioning.

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