Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“The risks may be formidable, but the high is sublime.”

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

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We recently read Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver for my book club. I was very impressed with it, and we inevitably began talking about the devastation of the opioid epidemic. I’m pretty sure I’d seen Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (2021) by Patrick Radden Keefe on book lists and recommendations. But after reading Demon Copperhead, I had a renewed interest in learning more about the specifics. It also helped that we’d already read Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, and it came highly recommended by a fellow […]

Doctors Evil

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

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A few years ago I read Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Say Nothing, about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, because I was interested in the subject and wanted to learn more. That book was so phenomenal that I read this one just because it was written by Patrick Radden Keefe. Beforehand, I had no particular interest or prior knowledge of the opioid crisis, but Keefe managed to make the subject incredibly absorbing. Keefe focuses on the Sackler family, who spent decades burnishing their reputation through extreme […]

Jump Up and Feel Down

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

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Reading about the rise and fall of the Sacklers, I kept thinking about the futurism of the 1950s. I had been to Futureland in Disney this past fall and it reminded me how obsessed people were in the post-war world with discovering things that dramatically enhanced life. This isn’t a bad sentiment to have, I suppose. I’d love nothing more than a robot butler to cook my food and clean up after me. But how does one deal with pain? It calls to mind Linda […]

Pretty Outdated But Still Interesting

Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesropping by Patrick Radden Keefe

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Best for: People interested in an historical perspective on data interception and ‘national security.’ In a nutshell: Keefe explores the US systems of eavesdropping on allies and enemies alike. Worth quoting: “In times of panic, we overreact, we over-legislate. We get it wrong.” Why I chose it: I thought I’d read all of Keefe’s books then this popped up. I have thoroughly enjoyed his last two full-length investigations, so figured why not read this? Review: Reading a book about national security and intelligence that was […]

Unfettered Capitalism and the American Dream

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

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This is an absolutely fascinating work of family history, that just happens to also be a searing indictment of that family’s contribution to the opioid crisis. The first chunk of this book details the origins of the Sackler family. In some ways, it’s a truly American success story: the three brothers, Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond, were the children of immigrants. All became doctors. The three brothers purchased a small pharmaceutical company in the early 1950’s (Purdue Pharma), which Mortimer and Raymond mostly ran while Arthur […]

Long Form Articles Brought Together

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe

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Best for: People looking for some quality long-form writing about some interesting and disturbing characters. In a nutshell: Keefe brings together essays he’s written for magazines over the past decade or so. Worth quoting: N/A – Audio book Why I chose it: Loved his past two books – didn’t realize this was a collection of long essays. Review: This is not a bad book. It was not exactly what I was looking for, but I did still enjoy it. I listened to each essay in […]



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