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Least of Us
Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Age of Fentanyl and Meth | Sam Quinones
6 posts | 3 read | 1 reading | 6 to read
From the New York Times bestselling author of Dreamland, a searing follow-up that explores the terrifying next stages of the opioid epidemic and the quiet yet ardent stories of community repair. Sam Quinones traveled from Mexico to the boardrooms of Big Pharma to main streets across the U.S. to create Dreamland, a groundbreaking portrait of the opioid epidemic. As the nation struggled to put back the pieces, Quinones was among the first to see the dangers that lay ahead: synthetic drugs and a new generation of kingpins whose product could be made in Magic Bullet blenders. In fentanyl, traffickers landed a painkiller more powerful than morphine. They laced into cocaine, meth, and marijuana to cause tens of thousands of deaths-at the same time as Mexican traffickers made methamphetamine cheaper and more potent than ever, urging a rise in mentally illness and, in response, Sam argues, an uptick in homelessness across the U.S. Quinones hit the road to investigate these new threats, discovering how addiction is exacerbated by consumer-product corporations. In a time when drug traffickers act like corporations and corporations like traffickers, he writes, our best defense, perhaps our only defense, lies in bolstering community. Amid a tattered landscape of despair, Quinones found hope in those embracing the forgotten and ignored, illuminating the striking truth that we are only as strong as our most vulnerable. Weaving analysis of the drug trade into stories of humble communities, The Least of Us delivers an unexpected and awe-inspiring response to the call that shocked the nation in Sam Quinones's award-winning Dreamland.
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

In this worthy follow up to his phenomenal Dreamland, Quinones explores the rise of meth and fentanyl in the US. This book does not feel as deeply researched, but he personalizes it with stories and I definitely learned a lot.

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Amiable
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Pickpick

A follow up to “Dreamland,” this book examines the next stages of the opioid epidemic with a spotlight on the introduction of crystal meth/P2P, fentanyl and other synthetic drugs into communities that were already reeling from the OxyContin crisis. There‘s a lot of important and useful info in here, although many of the chapters read like standalone essays so the narrative meanders at times.
#Nonfiction2022
Prompt: I‘m an Outcast

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Megabooks
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Mehso-so

What was done so brilliantly in his prior book on the opiate epidemic, Dreamland, fell flat here. He broadened his scope to include sugar 🤷🏻‍♀️ and meth in addition to fentanyl/OxyContin as addictive substances. The sugar especially was tacked on and caused the book to lose more focus on what was ultimately a book more about meth. Overall, I‘d say C+ needs refinement. #audiobook

JenReadsAlot That's disappointing. 3y
Cinfhen I like your grading system 😁will definitely be skipping this one. Thanks for the honest feedback ♥️ 3y
Megabooks @JenReadsAlot it was. I was sure I‘d love it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks friend! I try to be upfront about what I enjoy and don‘t. 😁 3y
74 likes4 comments
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Megabooks
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I‘m about to throw some shade.

In this book, there is a “triumphant” story about a pregnant woman who was mostly brain dead (but still partially responsive), who was kept alive at a great facility with music and caring nurses while she was pregnant, but after she delivered, she was sent to a literal ****hole where she was left alone covered in her own feces.

Now tell me, why was her life only valuable while she was pregnant?? ⬇️

Megabooks ⬆️ she is a human being deserving respect and care regardless of her pregnancy status. This made me really angry!! Not even getting into the point of whether her pregnancy should‘ve continued with a baby with severe problems due to drug use and her lack of choice in the matter. Fortunately a childhood friend found her and got her moved to a better facility, but this is actually a terrible story about the lack of care for indigent people!! 😡🤬😡🤬 (edited) 3y
Bookwormjillk That is really disturbing 😳 3y
TrishB Very disturbing. 3y
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Cinfhen Horrible. 3y
youneverarrived That‘s awful 3y
Megabooks @Bookwormjillk @TrishB @Cinfhen @youneverarrived you‘re 💯 right that it‘s disturbing. I have a family member that if not for my mother and her sister would be homeless in her 70s because of elder abuse. It just hit me really hard. 3y
Amiable I am reading this book right now and I‘m right there with you on the outrage. Where were the “pro-life” people in this case? They only cared about Starla as an incubator —once she gave birth, she was nothing but a brain-damaged drug addict to be dumped in a subpar nursing home. So hypocritical and maddening. (edited) 3y
60 likes7 comments
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Megabooks
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It‘s not quite #NewReleaseTuesday yet, but I thought I‘d share a couple of last week‘s that I picked up through the week on audible. Tagged ⬆️ and ⬇️.

I loved Dreamland by Quinones, so when I saw he wrote about the opiate crisis again, I had to pick it up.

Dog might be a difficult read as it deals with the really hard topics of child sex abuse and parental involvement, but it looks to be dealt with in a very creative way. We‘ll see…

Cinfhen Looking forward to #NewReleaseTuesday 🎈Carry the Dog is a topic I try to avoid reading 😢😔 3y
Cinfhen Although I just saw a review by @TorieStorieS and it sounds really good. I‘ll be waiting for your thoughts & review, Meg. 3y
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Megabooks @Cinfhen same re: topic, but sometimes I like to challenge my preconceptions about what I‘m willing to read whether it be a genre or topic. Library is 🔥🔥 right now, so it may be a minute before I get to either. Thanks for pointing out @TorieStorieS review! (edited) 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen up all night doing prep. Caught a couple of hours sleep, but my appointment is very early! (6:30 am and place is an hour away). My living room is the sunroom, so I‘m feeling really creeped out with the lights on and huge windows! Our backyard is pretty well lit but still…😬 3y
Cinfhen Just left the charity shop where I volunteer/ thinking of you xxxx 3y
64 likes6 comments
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JenReadsAlot
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Megabooks Stacked! 3y
JenReadsAlot @Megabooks I hope it's good 3y
fredthemoose Oooh… also stacking! 3y
Crazeedi Oh this looks timely and important 3y
28 likes2 stack adds4 comments