Empire of Pain
The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
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Empire of Pain
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Narrateur(s):
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Patrick Radden Keefe
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Auteur(s):
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Patrick Radden Keefe
À propos de cet audio
National Book Critics Circle Nominee
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
New York Times best seller
A grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. From the prize-winning and best-selling author of Say Nothing
The history of the Sackler dynasty is rife with drama—baroque personal lives; bitter disputes over estates; fistfights in boardrooms; glittering art collections; Machiavellian courtroom maneuvers; and the calculated use of money to burnish reputations and crush the less powerful. The Sackler name has adorned the walls of many storied institutions—Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations to the arts and the sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing a blockbuster painkiller that was the catalyst for the opioid crisis.
Empire of Pain begins with the story of three doctor brothers, Raymond, Mortimer, and the incalculably energetic Arthur, who weathered the poverty of the Great Depression and appalling anti-Semitism. Working at a barbaric mental institution, Arthur saw a better way and conducted groundbreaking research into drug treatments. He also had a genius for marketing, especially for pharmaceuticals, and bought a small ad firm.
Arthur devised the marketing for Valium, and built the first great Sackler fortune. He purchased a drug manufacturer, Purdue Frederick, which would be run by Raymond and Mortimer. The brothers began collecting art, and wives, and grand residences in exotic locales. Their children and grandchildren grew up in luxury.
Forty years later, Raymond’s son Richard ran the family-owned Purdue. The template Arthur Sackler created to sell Valium—co-opting doctors, influencing the FDA, downplaying the drug’s addictiveness—was employed to launch a far more potent product: OxyContin. The drug went on to generate some 35 billion dollars in revenue, and to launch a public health crisis in which hundreds of thousands would die.
This is the saga of three generations of a single family and the mark they would leave on the world, a tale that moves from the bustling streets of early 20th-century Brooklyn to the seaside palaces of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Cap d’Antibes to the corridors of power in Washington, DC. Empire of Pain chronicles the multiple investigations of the Sacklers and their company, and the scorched-earth legal tactics that the family has used to evade accountability.
Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling. It is a portrait of the excesses of America’s second Gilded Age, a study of impunity among the super elite and a relentless investigation of the naked greed and indifference to human suffering that built one of the world’s great fortunes.
©2021 Patrick Radden Keefe (P)2021 Random House AudioCe que les critiques en disent
New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books of the Year • One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year • TIME Magazine 100 Must Read Books of 2021 • One the Best Books of the Year: NPR, Slate, EW, Boston Globe, Goodreads, The Guardian, Town & Country, BuzzFeed, LitHub, Vulture, and more
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and Finalist for the Baillie Gifford Winner of Winners Award
One of President Obama's Favorite Books of the Year
“An engrossing (and frequently enraging) tale of striving, secrecy and self-delusion….Keefe nimbly guides us through the thicket of family intrigues and betrayals… Even when detailing the most sordid episodes, Keefe’s narrative voice is calm and admirably restrained, allowing his prodigious reporting to speak for itself. His portrait of the family is all the more damning for its stark lucidity.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
“I read everything he writes. Every time he writes a book, I read it. Every time he writes an article, I read it … he’s a national treasure.”—Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Blowout
“A true tragedy in multiple acts. It is the story of a family that lost its moorings and its morals… Written with novelistic family-dynasty and family-dynamic sweep, EMPIRE OF PAIN is a pharmaceutical FORSYTHE SAGA, a book that in its way is addictive, with a page-turning forward momentum.”—David M. Shribman, The Boston Globe
Ce que les auditeurs disent de Empire of Pain
Moyenne des évaluations de clientsÉvaluations – Cliquez sur les onglets pour changer la source des évaluations.
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Horst Schwingboth
- 2023-01-30
Wow . Super eye opening
Unbelievable story. Could not stop listening. Patrick did not leave a stone unturned . Enjoyed it
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Au global4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire4 out of 5 stars
- Azamon Customer
- 2024-09-05
Eye opening story
Wow - I had heard about the opioid crisis before, of course, but this story really opened my eyes as to how manipulative and exploitative Big Pharma can be, and how complacent and inept the government is is holding them at bay. After reading this, I'm going to be taking the claims of anything Big Pharma and advertising says with a lot more scepticism.
The narration is excellent, clear and well modulated. The story is extremely detailed and well crafted around several recurring themes and sub-stories, it ties itself together quite well. It is however quite a long audio book so be prepared.
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Jtoronto
- 2021-05-12
One of the best Expose stories I ever read
This is a story of a Pharma scandal (OxyContin) that I knew a little from the recent press coverage of the family’s settlement in court.
Patrick Keefe brings this scandal to life by tracing the Sackler’s family history and the progression of their pursuits as drug manufacturers.
The wealth of data presented in this book, its insightful analysis and beautifully written prose is what makes the book such a delight to read, despite the tragedy associated with the OxyContin scandal.
Most importantly this is a book that is probably best enjoyed in its audio, rather than written version. That is because Patrick does a superb interpretative job of reading it.
Don’t get discouraged by the book’s length. You will be satisfied from beginning to the very end.
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5 les gens ont trouvé cela utile
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Danny
- 2021-09-28
Eye opening
This book pulled back the veil to see the opioid crises and what caused it. It also confirmed that when someone has enough money they can work the legal system to their own benefit.
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-05-14
Riveting!
From beginning to end- an absolutely riveting story which needed to be told. Highly recommend!
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Ouliana
- 2022-02-10
great book.
was a little intimidated by the length, but it wasn't an issue. narration - fantastic.
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2022-12-12
A real life account of Power and Greed!
Well documented account of how a family made billions selling an illegal drug openly on the market with FDA approval. What and who will be next?
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Alixe Hale
- 2021-07-01
Amazing book
This book read like a mystery novel, there were so many twists and turns. It was so well documented and researched. I had listened to a podcast called “the Wind of Change” by Patrick Radden Keene and so enjoyed how he narrated and researched this podcast that when I saw he had written Empire of Pain I immediately bought it on Audible.
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1 personne a trouvé cela utile
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 2021-06-13
Wow!
An incredible feat of investigative journalism detailing the rise and fall of the Sackler family, who developed, marketed and sold OxyContin with a full understanding of its addictive nature and its contribution to the opioid crisis. Whatever you think you know, there's more. The author is a great narrator, too. Excellent.
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1 personne a trouvé cela utile
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Au global5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Histoire5 out of 5 stars
- Roberta W
- 2021-04-18
Enlightening
A very thorough, enlightening and timely book. I thought it might be too long, but it kept my attention. Great background on the pharmaceutical industry. Surprisingly interesting revelations on the Egyptological exhibitions in the Met (so much I never knew!!), art, art collections and gallery namings
. This section was a bonus to me. Most importantly, I learned the history of OxyContin and all that followed, leading to the opioid crisis killing so many people today. The family behind this story are scumbags... if you can stomach hearing how they put wealth before humanity, then it’s a good read (listen).
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