--- product_id: 4439788 title: "Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3)" price: "23453CFA" currency: XOF in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/4439788-methland-the-death-and-life-of-an-american-small-town store_origin: SN region: Senegal --- # Award-winning journalism Top 100 rankings in Sociology & Substance Abuse In-depth 4-year investigative reporting Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) **Price:** 23453CFA **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 📖 Uncover the hidden crisis shaping America’s heartland — before it’s too late! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) - **How much does it cost?** 23453CFA with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sn](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/4439788-methland-the-death-and-life-of-an-american-small-town) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Timely & Relevant:** A powerful narrative on meth’s impact amid economic and social decline. - • **Deep-Dive Reporting:** Based on four years of immersive research in a real American small town. - • **Award-Winning Insight:** Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland & Hillman Prizes, recognized by major media outlets. - • **Eye-Opening Perspective:** Not just a drug story—an urgent look at America’s economic and societal fractures. - • **Sociology Meets Storytelling:** Ranks top #59 in Sociology of Rural Areas and #335 in Substance Abuse Recovery. ## Overview Methland is a critically acclaimed, award-winning investigative book that explores the methamphetamine epidemic in rural America through four years of detailed reporting. It connects the drug crisis to broader economic and social issues, offering a sobering yet essential perspective on the struggles of small-town America. Highly ranked in sociology and substance abuse categories, this bestseller is a must-read for understanding the human and systemic costs behind the headlines. ## Description A New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize Winner of the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism Named a best book of the year by: the Los Angeles Times the San Francisco Chronicle the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch the Chicago Tribune the Seattle Times "A stunning look at a problem that has dire consequences for our country.”-New York Post The dramatic story of Methamphetamine as it comes to the American Heartland-a timely, moving, account of one community's attempt to confront the epidemic and see their way to a brighter future. The bestselling book that launched meth back into the nation's consciousness. Based on Reding's four years of reporting in the agricultural town of Oelwein, Iowa, and tracing the connections to the global forces that set the stage for the meth epidemic, Methland offers a vital perspective on a contemporary tragedy. It is a portrait of a community under siege, of the lives that meth has devastated, and of the heroes who continue to fight the war. Review: Scary! - I guess the first thing I would say to anyone considering reading this book is: can you stomach a truly scary story, especially knowing it's real? Even though the book is a few years old, I'm sure much of what it portrays is still relevant. As someone who has never had any experience with meth, and whose knowledge comes from what she sees on "Breaking Bad", I found this book to be very well written and very informative about this problem. I live in the Midwest and have read newspaper articles about meth busts, meth cooks and how people behave in the throes of the drug; however, I've never really read much about the depth of the problem. The author did a good job of bringing his research together and presenting it in a very informative, readable way. I do have to say that there were sections that literally gave me chills when I pictured what it would be like to live in a town such as Oelwein and to come face to face with addicts in the course of my daily life. Thanks to the author for his well-written and informative book--it must have taken a great deal of courage to put himself in to those situations in order to get to the real stories. Review: One Scary Book - It is the only book I'm aware of that understands at a fundamental level meth isn't a drug problem, it is a symptom of our current societal and economic problems. The meth epidemic isn't about a drug, its about the economy, and so Reding's book is as much about the death of a way of life as the birth of a drug. For those looking for a Breaking Bad experience, or another drug-porn description of whacked-out meth addicts, this is not your book. Instead, Reding, after returning to his hometown of Oelwein, Iowa, chronicles the descent from a thriving agricultural-based economy into a desperate place where cheap, easy to obtain drugs like meth were just waiting to move in. Along the way Iowa's story parallels the changes in our broader national society and economy, focused here on Big Agra moving in, first destroying family farms and local meat packers, then replacing the workers in its new mega-facilities with cheap, disposable labor from south of the border. Such changes, whether wrought by Big Agra businesses, Chinese steel or Walmart, take away the life of the town but leave behind the people. Just like Big Agra destroyed a way of life in Iowa, Big Pharma profited off the remains. Reding details how the pharmaceutical industry spent heavily and lobbied successfully to not limit the import of pseudoephedrine into the U.S. The drug companies needed that chemical to be available and cheap for their cold medicines, and were without care that that same chemical, distilled out of those same cold medicines, fueled the meth epidemic. Hey, it was just business, a perfect metaphor for the rise of profit above all else, the leaving behind of the 99 percent. Reding touches on how easy the drug is to cook up in small batches, although a small mistake in the chemistry can result in horrific burns and explosions. Meth wasn’t a social drug, and so you didn’t need to hang around with old juicers in a dark bar. Meth came to you. Your friends were using it, if not selling it or cooking it, and the angry, speedo high it gave fit the young guys better. Meth wasn’t only for boys, either. Girls liked it too, and because you never thought about eating on a meth cruise, they called it the Jenny Crank diet. As part of research leading to my upcoming book, Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent, I spent some time in the Rust Belt of the Midwest, where meth is as popular as in Iowa, and for the same reasons. Reding's descriptions and conclusion ring true. But most importantly, meth just isn't cheap and easy, it is a Midwest drug. Instead of the flighty high of weed or the dulled feeling of alcohol, meth at first offers a powerful feeling of self-worth, of energy, that is the perfect antidote for the crushing depression and lack of hope the space around the user represents. For a world stuck in crap, meth was the answer. This was a drug designed for unemployed people with poor self-images and no confidence. Of course the drug is a false front, as users quickly suffer from the debilitating health problems we are all familiar with. But that's a tomorrow kind of problem, and the lost users in Iowa and elsewhere know they have no tomorrow anyway. Criticisms of the book are few. Reding includes far too much information on the personal lives of the few good people in town trying to better things, and about himself. These do little to support the central ideas and often detour the narrative. The book tries perhaps too hard to end on a positive note, focusing on the progress made but losing sight of how little winning one battle in rural Iowa means in the larger war for our America. But don't let those points stop you from looking into this book. Skim the filler and focus on the important point: People without jobs, without hope, without tomorrows, will turn to things like meth to ease the pain. It's human nature. As Reding writes, rock bottom is not a foundation to build on. And unless we as a nation figure out a better way forward-- jobs that pay a living wage for more Americans, the reining in of big interests that rip apart the fabric of the nation around them-- methland will be our land. We can't fix America's meth problem without fixing America. ## Features - Used Book in Good Condition ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #225,281 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #59 in Sociology of Rural Areas #335 in Substance Abuse Recovery #552 in Criminology (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 629 Reviews | ## Images ![Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/714F6ozRQKL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Scary! *by B***M on April 5, 2013* I guess the first thing I would say to anyone considering reading this book is: can you stomach a truly scary story, especially knowing it's real? Even though the book is a few years old, I'm sure much of what it portrays is still relevant. As someone who has never had any experience with meth, and whose knowledge comes from what she sees on "Breaking Bad", I found this book to be very well written and very informative about this problem. I live in the Midwest and have read newspaper articles about meth busts, meth cooks and how people behave in the throes of the drug; however, I've never really read much about the depth of the problem. The author did a good job of bringing his research together and presenting it in a very informative, readable way. I do have to say that there were sections that literally gave me chills when I pictured what it would be like to live in a town such as Oelwein and to come face to face with addicts in the course of my daily life. Thanks to the author for his well-written and informative book--it must have taken a great deal of courage to put himself in to those situations in order to get to the real stories. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ One Scary Book *by P***N on January 18, 2014* It is the only book I'm aware of that understands at a fundamental level meth isn't a drug problem, it is a symptom of our current societal and economic problems. The meth epidemic isn't about a drug, its about the economy, and so Reding's book is as much about the death of a way of life as the birth of a drug. For those looking for a Breaking Bad experience, or another drug-porn description of whacked-out meth addicts, this is not your book. Instead, Reding, after returning to his hometown of Oelwein, Iowa, chronicles the descent from a thriving agricultural-based economy into a desperate place where cheap, easy to obtain drugs like meth were just waiting to move in. Along the way Iowa's story parallels the changes in our broader national society and economy, focused here on Big Agra moving in, first destroying family farms and local meat packers, then replacing the workers in its new mega-facilities with cheap, disposable labor from south of the border. Such changes, whether wrought by Big Agra businesses, Chinese steel or Walmart, take away the life of the town but leave behind the people. Just like Big Agra destroyed a way of life in Iowa, Big Pharma profited off the remains. Reding details how the pharmaceutical industry spent heavily and lobbied successfully to not limit the import of pseudoephedrine into the U.S. The drug companies needed that chemical to be available and cheap for their cold medicines, and were without care that that same chemical, distilled out of those same cold medicines, fueled the meth epidemic. Hey, it was just business, a perfect metaphor for the rise of profit above all else, the leaving behind of the 99 percent. Reding touches on how easy the drug is to cook up in small batches, although a small mistake in the chemistry can result in horrific burns and explosions. Meth wasn’t a social drug, and so you didn’t need to hang around with old juicers in a dark bar. Meth came to you. Your friends were using it, if not selling it or cooking it, and the angry, speedo high it gave fit the young guys better. Meth wasn’t only for boys, either. Girls liked it too, and because you never thought about eating on a meth cruise, they called it the Jenny Crank diet. As part of research leading to my upcoming book, Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent, I spent some time in the Rust Belt of the Midwest, where meth is as popular as in Iowa, and for the same reasons. Reding's descriptions and conclusion ring true. But most importantly, meth just isn't cheap and easy, it is a Midwest drug. Instead of the flighty high of weed or the dulled feeling of alcohol, meth at first offers a powerful feeling of self-worth, of energy, that is the perfect antidote for the crushing depression and lack of hope the space around the user represents. For a world stuck in crap, meth was the answer. This was a drug designed for unemployed people with poor self-images and no confidence. Of course the drug is a false front, as users quickly suffer from the debilitating health problems we are all familiar with. But that's a tomorrow kind of problem, and the lost users in Iowa and elsewhere know they have no tomorrow anyway. Criticisms of the book are few. Reding includes far too much information on the personal lives of the few good people in town trying to better things, and about himself. These do little to support the central ideas and often detour the narrative. The book tries perhaps too hard to end on a positive note, focusing on the progress made but losing sight of how little winning one battle in rural Iowa means in the larger war for our America. But don't let those points stop you from looking into this book. Skim the filler and focus on the important point: People without jobs, without hope, without tomorrows, will turn to things like meth to ease the pain. It's human nature. As Reding writes, rock bottom is not a foundation to build on. And unless we as a nation figure out a better way forward-- jobs that pay a living wage for more Americans, the reining in of big interests that rip apart the fabric of the nation around them-- methland will be our land. We can't fix America's meth problem without fixing America. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book will be assigned reading in college classes *by S***O on July 27, 2009* I thought I knew a lot about drugs and drug policy, but Methland really expanded my understanding. This is more than a book of facts and opinions. It is original thinking about a terrible problem that doesn't go away. Some of the things the author wrote about months before the book was published are now making news, including a new awareness of the influx of drugs across the Canadian-U.S. border, and increasing drug violence in American towns and cities by vicious Mexican drug dealers. I particularly appreciate that the author is such a fine writer, making the book a pleasure to read, with his ability to personalize the sociology of illegal drugs in small town America. Given the current economic depression, we can expect to see more Methlands in our neighborhoods before long. By the way, the petty complaints of other reviewers about matters like how many stories a building has or whether a location is Cedar Falls or Cedar Rapids, are entirely irrelevant to the story and insights. I never noticed even a typo. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sn/products/4439788-methland-the-death-and-life-of-an-american-small-town](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/4439788-methland-the-death-and-life-of-an-american-small-town) --- *Product available on Desertcart Senegal* *Store origin: SN* *Last updated: 2026-09-08*