Methland: Guest review, and other assorted thoughts.

Today I'm very pleased to offer a guest review of Nick Reding's Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town, by my friend Robert Brown. This is partly because I am lazy today, and I'm really not sure what to say about this book. But it is primarily because Robert has written a better review than I ever could. Somebody please give Robert a job reviewing books, would you? I have his contact information. Here goes:

"Meth is a chemical developed a century ago, and with a long history of acceptable use, in the US and around the world. It makes one a kind of invincible robot laborer. Tough times and narrowing options in the rural midwest US opened the door for the explosion of meth onto the national scene, laying waste to the traditional values of the region.

Reding follows the trail of meth's slow, steady spread throughout the country, interviewing politicians, scientists, federal agents, police, and a meth-head or two to get at the truth. What he uncovers is disturbing and bleak. What he attempts to do is to use meth as a tool for understanding the plight of the individual during our current globalized society. Most of the book is given to analysis of the agricultural upheavals of the last quarter century and the decline of organized labor in a distributed labor market. Reding also covers the effects of the pharmaceutical industry's lobbying of the US congress, and courageously opens the immigration can of worms. This gives the book a larger frame, but compromises its depth.

I bought this book because I've been wondering about what meth has been up to the last year or so. I haven't heard much about it, and that makes me nervous. I remember when speed was just a joke, and I hoped for a clearer understanding of how uppers became crank. I now have that understanding, and I'm not sure I'm better off with it.

Methland is not a light read, nor an uplifting one. Reding tries to end on a high note, stressing the small-scale success of the mayor of the town of Oelwein Iowa and his allies in rehabilitating both the material circumstances of the town, and the collective spirit of the townspeople. He shows how one meth addict is trying against his own will to be a good father and stay clean.

The overwhelming feeling engendered by the book, however, is one of weary resignation. Meth is here, and it isn't going away, and the people who now control the supply and delivery of the drug are unpleasant. Things are probably going to get worse: third-world worse.

Part of the reason Reding's attempt to ameliorate the dread his investigation induces fails is that he doesn't believe it himself. His interpretation of events speaks volumes about his own convictions regarding the future, and I happen to find his interpretation and his convictions convincing. The other reason is because Reding's research seems spotty, or perhaps most of his research didn't find its way into the book. He didn't dig as hard as he could have, perhaps. Where are the interviews with a variety of addicts, or regular citizens? How does meth affect the "heartland?" What is the "heartland?" Who are all these people? Reding provides a few perspectives, but not a wide enough spectrum to make an impression.

Methland is an informative book, but it is too brief and too shallow a study to provide anything definitive or lasting. The people we meet are interesting, but we don't meet enough people. The anecdotes and interviews and studies are compelling, and the book is full of insight, some of it all too plausible. But it seems haphazardly organized, and rushed from initial material through final draft. Still, I recommend the book to anyone who wants to understand how uppers became crank."

Thank you, Robert. Actually, reading his review made me re-evaluate this book; more on that tomorrow.

Comments

[Melissa Ward]

I'm not in disagreement with your assessment of Methland; I think the author does a good job with the "big picture" destruction caused by methamphetamine addiction and manufacture. To add to your review, I'd like to mention that Reding plays fast and loose with concrete facts in the book. A Cedar Rapids, IA, columnist detailed many of them in a review back in July 2009 (which is unfortunately not online otherwise I would link to it); some of the more glaring errors have to do with mistakes in Iowa geography.

[laura]

Yes -- for instance, Iowa City is not the largest city in Iowa. That's the one I caught, but I would not be surprised if there were more.

To me, the most interesting aspect of the book was that it was trying to blend investigative reporting with a more personal narrative, but the author left out a key detail of that personal narrative until the acknowledgments at the very end of the book. I've been meaning to get back to more book reviewing on my own blog, so I'll save the rest as a motivation to do so there.

[Citizen Reader]

Melissa,
Oh NO! I always hate to hear when there are errors in nonfiction books. Although part of me blames our society (more, faster, NOW) and publishing companies more than the author; but that is no excuse. I would imagine that factcheckers and copyeditors were the first to get chucked out the doors in the last downturn, leading to problems like this. Of course the author should get it right, though.

Laura,
Yes, it was rather an odd little book. I flew through it, and found it very interesting, and actually had rather a soft spot for what the author was trying to do. I don't mind the blending of the investigative with the personal at all--witness my love of John Bowe's "Nobodies"--especially when I feel like the author has put in some legwork talking to people (which it seemed to me this guy did). I only get annoyed at the blending of personal + investigative when it is done in a half-ass way, a la Barbara Ehrenreich (in "Nickel and Dimed," which was not a terrible book, but did not deserve to sell as many copies as it did). I'll look forward to your review.

[Unruly Reader]

Robert,
I am glad you comment on some of the book's shortcomings. By the time I read the 3rd geographical/factual error (incorrect university information, etc.), I gave up in disgust. I wanted to read on, but I.Could.Not.Do.It.
-- from an (apparently irritable) Iowa native

[Robert Brown]

I "learned" quite a bit about meth and its history from this book. I hope those facts are straight.

[Citizen Reader]

Just this in: Laura did review the book; her review is here:
http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/344

[Supra Shoes]

John Hurley, Sr. was working as a butcher at the Stop and Shop in the 50's, when Fred came in one day to buy some meat. Barbara was standing at the counter, and John introduced them, and they've been happily married ever since.