Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
By John Carreyrou
Publication Year: 2021
Type: Non-fiction
Genre: medicine, science, business
Read on 2021-12-30
★★★★★
This was probably my top read of 2021. The best of non-fiction, a sweeping multi-generational medical and business drama about the Sackler family and the opioid epidemic from the family's humble beginnings as a band of immigrant Jewish brothers in New York to the shady marketing tactics that spawned the opioid crisis. I kept comparing it in my head to HBO's Succession but honestly much of the real events recounted in this book and the total melodrama of it put shows like that to shame. I wouldn't be surprised if this family actually inspired that one. And this book is not just a strict business history either; it shines equally as a thorough biography of individual family members and in its analysis of multiple historical, social, and personal events over the course of a century.
I was especially intrigued by the sections that delved deeply into the Sackler family's patronage of the arts, in particular Asian art, and the non-profit industrial complex of it all. As an East Asian art history major, I was very familiar with the Sackler name, and this book provided such a thorough discussion of this topic. A juicy juicy tome and an absolute must-read.
