Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic

Published in 2015, Sam Quinones's Dreamland traces the history of the American opioid epidemic through the experiences of a handful of small towns across the country, with a specific focus on Portsmouth, OH. Quinones's narrative is too centered on individuals — pharmaceutical executives, doctors, narcotics investigators, dealers, etc. — and his tone is relentlessly somber as he seeks to describe the progression of the epidemic in the most dire way possible. But this is a useful history, especially on the role of Purdue Pharma (which developed OxyContin) and the impressive distribution network set up by black-tar heroin dealers from Xalisco.