Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic is journalist and author Sam Quinones' 2015 non-fiction book that explores why there is an opiate epidemic in America. Quinones' traces it back to enterprising sugar farmers who developed a very unique distribution system so that they could bring black tar heroin into America, the most addictive opiate available. Not only does he go through the history of the problem, but he also details the drastically terrible effects it is having on the people that take it and the cities they live in. Cities that have never had anything close to a problem with the drugs that are becoming so ubiquitous. This is an important book and a book that can help people make light of this devastating and evil crisis that has plagued America from big city to small.
Upon release, Dreamland received almost universal critical acclaim. On Amazon, it holds an astounding rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. On book review aggregation site Goodreads.com, it holds a tremendous rating of 4.25 out of 5 stars. It also one the National Book Critics Circle Award. Writes the New York Journal of Books: "Dreamland stands as a model of meticulous investigative reporting . . .” It is for those reasons that many people, including high-ranking government officials like Kentucky governor Matt Bevin ranked the book as one of the best of the year. It is an important book in the sense that it has shined further light on the opiate epidemic in America, a problem not known by many.
