Empire of Pain

Why it’s on the list: Patrick Radden Keefe’s history of three generations of Sacklers — how a family built a pharmaceutical fortune on marketing, and how the same machinery that sold Valium sold OxyContin.

Where I heard about it

• Spotted at JFK Airport — January 2023 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at SFO — March 2025 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, Beaverton — July 2025 (Books photo album)

• Replies to @moseskagan — named in the replies to his question “What historical fiction should I read next?”, April 2025. Full list: What historical fiction should I… (tweet).

• Replies to @WillManidis — named again, independently, in the replies to “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?”, June 2025. Full list: what is the single best book… (tweet).

Connections

• What historical fiction should I… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• what is the single best book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Industry Analysis — the reply that named it in the industry thread was pitching it as the one book that explains pharma marketing.