Books about the Opioid Crisis
Have you read any recent books on the opioid crisis?
Like the super nerd that I am, I like to dive into a topic and read ALL of the things about it. Other times, I like to read updates every so often to keep up-to-date on the latest news.
I started reading about the opioid crisis more intentionally when I picked up Dreamland by Sam Quinones back in 2015. When I saw the name of the well-known public pool in my home town featured as the book’s title, my mouth dropped to the floor. I hadn’t seen anyone write about Portsmouth so thoroughly before, but I was devastated by the reason why.
Beth Macy’s Dopesick came out in 2018, giving us a look at how the opioid crisis from her perspective as a journalist in Virginia.
A couple week’s ago, Empire of Pain hit the shelves to much buzz after the authors success with his previous book Say Nothing. While the previous books on the topic had focused on specific areas of the country, Empire of Pain focused on the Sacklers, the family who the company that created and aggressively marketed OxyContin. While this book isn’t Appalachian, it helped me better understand the bigger picture.
Recently, Chuck Corra of Appodlachia recommended Death in Mud Lick written by Eric Eyre. Eyre reports on the town of Kermit, West Virginia, where drug companies sent over 12 million opioid pills over a 3-year period. The town of Kermit had a population of 382 at the time.
These books are really just the tip of the iceberg. There’s been hundreds of articles published by local reporters, films, novels, and documentaries that all focus on the opioid crisis in Appalachia. But if you’ve been looking for a place to start, consider checking out one of these books. We have all been affected by this crisis, and these books help put the pieces together creating a larger picture of the history of the epidemic in the region.
