--- product_id: 4439788 title: "Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3)" price: "VT7245" currency: VUV in_stock: false reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/4439788-methland-the-death-and-life-of-an-american-small-town store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) **Price:** VT7245 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) - **How much does it cost?** VT7245 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/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 ## Description Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) [Reding, Nick] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) 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: An informative and interesting read: Author K.P. Hayden - I lived in Oelwein from 1966 through 1974; my brother played music with Clay and Chuck Hallberg in the band CREATION. Fortunately my family somehow managed to escape ahead of the collapse...oddly enough, I lived In Ottumwa a year or two before we moved to Oelwein. Oelwein was ripe for the picking...even during my 7th and 8th grade years many Oelwein Junior High students were already struggling against the might of the advancing drug culture. At several points during the discussion I felt my heart breaking, wishing to know how my old friends had weathered the crystal storm...and those who were not so fortunate. The narrative was informative and provided an excellent "back room' perspective of the downward spiral which claimed so many lives and ravished youth and families. I have to admit though, I found many of the character descriptions too wordy. So much so I began skipping them, especially in the later stages of the book where some of the imagery was repeated. The transition from one person's story to the next was frequently abrupt leaving me uncertain what point the author was attempting to reinforce or if he just lost interest. However, the interviews with the cookers, traffickers, addicts, law enforcement officials, Dr. Hallberg's medical perspective, and all the history and insights into the players and DTO's is absolutely riveting. I came away from this with a much clearer understanding of the enormity of the Meth problem in the US, and somewhat dumbfounded by the absence of meaningful government intervention and grand scale corporate irresponsibility. This is information every 14-year-old needs to have but will probably never get. Well worth the price of admission. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | 1608192075 | | Best Sellers Rank | #740,549 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #51 in Sociology of Rural Areas #368 in Substance Abuse Recovery #439 in Criminology (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (626) | | Dimensions | 5.5 x 0.85 x 8.2 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | ISBN-10 | 9781608192076 | | ISBN-13 | 978-1608192076 | | Item Weight | 9.3 ounces | | Language | English | | Print length | 288 pages | | Publication date | June 3, 2010 | | Publisher | Bloomsbury USA | ## Images ![Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/714F6ozRQKL.jpg) ![Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town (Bloomsbury, 3) - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Hh9WunoUL.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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ An informative and interesting read: Author K.P. Hayden *by A***N on January 14, 2014* I lived in Oelwein from 1966 through 1974; my brother played music with Clay and Chuck Hallberg in the band CREATION. Fortunately my family somehow managed to escape ahead of the collapse...oddly enough, I lived In Ottumwa a year or two before we moved to Oelwein. Oelwein was ripe for the picking...even during my 7th and 8th grade years many Oelwein Junior High students were already struggling against the might of the advancing drug culture. At several points during the discussion I felt my heart breaking, wishing to know how my old friends had weathered the crystal storm...and those who were not so fortunate. The narrative was informative and provided an excellent "back room' perspective of the downward spiral which claimed so many lives and ravished youth and families. I have to admit though, I found many of the character descriptions too wordy. So much so I began skipping them, especially in the later stages of the book where some of the imagery was repeated. The transition from one person's story to the next was frequently abrupt leaving me uncertain what point the author was attempting to reinforce or if he just lost interest. However, the interviews with the cookers, traffickers, addicts, law enforcement officials, Dr. Hallberg's medical perspective, and all the history and insights into the players and DTO's is absolutely riveting. I came away from this with a much clearer understanding of the enormity of the Meth problem in the US, and somewhat dumbfounded by the absence of meaningful government intervention and grand scale corporate irresponsibility. This is information every 14-year-old needs to have but will probably never get. Well worth the price of admission. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Superbly researched and told tale of meth's impact on one small American community *by A***O on October 22, 2009* Author Nick Reding notes that if you search on terms like "meth capital of the world" or "ground zero for the meth epidemic," you'll find those appellations applied to various locales throughout the United States. So, it would be easy to write a drive-by account of meth's impact across the country. What's not so easy is to identify and focus in on one small, representative community and describe meth's impact and that community's transformation...and, along the way to forge lasting, material relationships with the individuals at the vortex of the story: the town's mayor; its assistant prosecutor; and the local general practitioner (MD). That's what Nick Reding has done with the town of Oelwein, IA, and with his story's protagonists, Mayor Larry Murphy (who Reding rightly hails in his Acknowledgments as "what a hero looks and acts like"), prosecutor Nathan Lein and GP Clay Hallberg. That Reding can produce a warts-and-all depiction of Oelwein - and of these three men - and that you can see Nathan Lein's positive spotlight review on these pages...well, that tells you all you need to know about Reding's integrity, the value he places on friendship, and the veracity of his reporting. This book has some added resonance for me: as an IT professional, I've helped put in systems designed to ensure compliance to the Combat Meth Act. Reding does a good job detailing the unintended consequences of that and other legislation. He also makes note of various other missed opportunities to catch the spread of meth early on. The biggest causes of those misses? It wasn't Drug Trafficking Organizations ('DTOs') or other nefarious elements; rather, it's assiduous lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry. --- ## 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.vu/products/4439788-methland-the-death-and-life-of-an-american-small-town](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/4439788-methland-the-death-and-life-of-an-american-small-town) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-05-17*