Maybe it's just me, but what is the goal of pharmaceutical companies advertising prescription-only drugs? If you can't buy Lazipro (a made-up drug) without a prescription, why tell consumers about it. To me, the assumption is that your doctor is such an idiot that if you don't mention Lazipro as a solution to your malady, they would never think of it. Imagine this..."Doctor, it hurts when I do this," as I lift my arm. "I think I need Lazipro." "My goodness, Dr. Feelgood says, I would never have thought of that on my own. Yes, Lazipro for you," they say, grabbing their prescription pad. How many millions of dollars are wasted or could be used to lower the cost of insulin if only the hundreds of commercials for prescription-only drugs stopped?
This is an evocative, touching book. I grew up in Tennessee just a ways down the road from the hard-luck main character, Skid, offset by just a few years. Randy O’Brien knows the 70s in the South – what’s going on, the shifting attitudes, politics, being poor, and what it’s like to be a kid who’s good at some things but not others. Through the tumult of young love, misfortune and downright unfairness, Skid struggles to do the right thing – sometimes succeeding and sometimes not – while wrestling with the wild emotion of youth and self-discovery. It all builds to a climax that breaks your heart even as it holds out a bit of hope. I recommend it.
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