Description:

An instant New York Times and indie bestseller, Dopesick is the only book to fully chart the devastating opioid crisis in America: "a harrowing, deeply compassionate dispatch from the heart of a national emergency" (New York Times) from a bestselling author and journalist who has lived through it

In this masterful work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of America's twenty-plus year struggle with opioid addiction. From distressed small communities in Central Appalachia to wealthy suburbs; from disparate cities to once-idyllic farm towns; it's a heartbreaking trajectory that illustrates how this national crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.

Beginning with a single dealer who lands in a small Virginia town and sets about turning high school football stars into heroin overdose statistics, Macy endeavors to answer a grieving mother's question-why her only son died-and comes away with a harrowing story of greed and need. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy parses how America embraced a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. In some of the same distressed communities featured in her bestselling book Factory Man, the unemployed use painkillers both to numb the pain of joblessness and pay their bills, while privileged teens trade pills in cul-de-sacs, and even high school standouts fall prey to prostitution, jail, and death.

Through unsparing, yet deeply human portraits of the families and first responders struggling to ameliorate this epidemic, each facet of the crisis comes into focus. In these politically fragmented times, Beth Macy shows, astonishingly, that the only thing that unites Americans across geographic and class lines is opioid drug abuse. But in a country unable to provide basic healthcare for all, Macy still finds reason to hope-and signs of the spirit and tenacity necessary in those facing addiction to build a better future for themselves and their families.

"An impressive feat of journalism, monumental in scope and urgent in its implications."--Jennifer Latson, The Boston Globe

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Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of August 2018: I thought I understood the origins and impact of America’s opioid crisis. Then I read Dopesick. Beth Macy’s book revealed the greed that drove OxyContin to be America’s drug of choice, and it opened my eyes to the shame of addiction that kept this epidemic hidden until far too late. Opioid addiction has touched nearly all of us in the 20 years since OxyContin came to market, and it’s something that didn’t have to happen. Money--absurdly huge sums of it--encouraged doctors, politicians, and the pharmaceutical industry to accept claims about the safety of this painkiller even when it was in conflict with what they saw in their practices and communities. There were so many warning signs. And there were so many people—particularly in small middle American towns--who cried foul, but no one in power cared to act. Beth Macy is a brilliant investigative journalist and a compassionate human being, and she tells this story like no one else has so far. Dopesick offers just the right blend of personal stories and cold hard facts; it’s a powerful book that incites conversation. There’s so much I want to share from Dopesick, but I guess what I most want to say is this: read it. And then pass it on. --Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review

Review

• LA Times Book Prize for Science & Technology Winner

• **American Society of Addiction Medicine Annual Media Award Winner

• 2018 Kirkus Prize Finalist

• 2019 Library of Virginia People's Choice Award for Nonfiction finalist

• **Andrew Carnegie Medal shortlist

• **800-CEO-READ 2018 Business Book Awards Longlist

• *A New York Times* Bestseller

• *One of New York Times Book Review*'s 100 Notable Books of 2018

• *New York Times critic Janet Maslin's Top Five Best Books *

• *An NPR's On Point* Top Title of 2018

• *One of Literary Hub*'s Ultimate Best Books of 2018

• **One of ALA's 2018 Notable Books

• *A Chicago Tribune* Best Book of the Year

• One of Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Best Southern Books of 2018

• *One of Newsweek's* 61 Best Books of 2018

• * Washington Post *Best Book of the Year

• **An Amazon Best Book of 2018

• **One of Anne Lamott's Favorite Books of 2018

"Macy's harrowing account of the opioid epidemic in which hundreds of thousands have already died masterfully interlaces stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference."―*New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice*

"A harrowing, deeply compassionate dispatch from the heart of a national emergency...a masterwork of narrative journalism, interlacing stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference."―Jessica Bruder, *New York Times Book Review*

"This book is comprehensive, compassionate and forceful. No matter what you already know about the opiod crisis, Dopesick's toughness and intimacy make it a must."―Janet Maslin, *New York Times*

"An impressive feat of journalism, monumental in scope and urgent in its implications...gritty and heartbreaking."―Jennifer Latson, *The Boston Globe*

"You've probably heard pieces of this story before, but in Dopesick we get something original: a page-turning explanation."―Matt McCarthy, USA Today**

"Macy has waded into a public health morass that has also become a political minefield...Macy's strengths as a reporter are on full display when she talks to people, gaining the trust of chastened users, grieving families, exhausted medical workers and even a convicted heroin dealer, whose scheduled two-hour interview with the author ended up stretching to more than six hours."―Jennifer Szalai, *New York Times*

"Ms. Macy focuses on southern and western Virginia, though the lessons of her narrative apply broadly...Macy embedded herself in the lives of four heartsick families whose children's lives were ravaged--and sometimes lost--because of opioid addiction...for those new to the topic there is much to learn."―Dr. Sally Satel, Wall Street Journal**

"Macy reports on the human carnage with respect and quiet compassion."―Gabriel Thompson, The San Francisco Chronicle**

"Macy's book reveals a more complex truth of an epidemic that has been manufactured by the players of her subtitle."
―*John Warner, The Chicago Tribune