The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It
By Marcia Angell
Random House, $24.95

With the publication of this book, Dr. Marcia Angell would seem to be something of a crusader, but her demeanor doesn’t quite indicate that. She comes across as level-headed and even-tempered, though thoroughly disconcerted by the unchecked behavior of American pharmaceutical companies. “The pharmaceutical industry is taking us for a ride,” Angell told me in a recent interview. “They want Americans to believe we have to pay very high prices for drugs in order to cover their research and that’s simply not true.” Angell goes on to explain that for over two decades the pharmaceutical industry has been the most profitable industry in the US, slipping only slightly last year to crude oil, commercial banking and mining. Profits at drug companies routinely run at around 14%, she notes, compared to the median profit margin of 4.6% for other Fortune 500 companies.

This is due to a multitude of factors. One of which being the proliferation of what Angell calls “me too” drugs, like pills to lower cholesterol, anti-depressants and pills for “acid reflux disease.” The pharmaceutical industry, through their marketing, panders to American insecurities by promoting the very conditions they claim to treat. Thus, as she points out, “Shy people are being told they have ‘anxiety disorder’ and men who don’t perform always at 110% have what’s now called ‘erectile penile dysfunction.’” While there are many people who legitimately suffer from genuine medical conditions, including anxiety and depression, Angell explains, “People are becoming convinced that everyone who has the ups and downs of normal life have a medical condition that needs to be treated.” Another problem stems from the fact that, much like the oil industry, drug companies operate as an oligopoly, never competing on price. Much more disturbingly, they sponsor a multitude of meetings and medical conferences and even pay for many doctors’ continuing education. Through these conferences, companies “educate” the medical field in very specious ways. “If you want to decide whether to buy a Honda or a Toyota,” says Angell. “You don’t go to a Honda dealership for objective information.” Angell’s book goes a long way to providing a better balance for consumers to indeed come up with some objective information about an industry that has such huge sway over our lives. —Kristopher Monroe

White Line Fever: The Autobiography
By Lemmy Kilmister with Janiss Garza
Citadel press, $14.95

“White Line Fever,” Motorhead’s first single, is an apt title for this book. Born in 1945, Lemmy has packed a lot of living into his 58 years: Hendrix roadie, Hawkwind bassist, unrepentant speed freak. Born Ian Willis, he became Lemmy at 10, sprouted the ‘stache at 11 and sired his first child at 16. At his peak, he didn’t just live fast, he played so damned fast he inspired his own subgenre: speed metal (and won’t be leaving a pretty corpse behind). “White Line Fever” is everything a Lemmy fan could want: frank thoughts, funny stories and lots of exclamation points.. —Kathleen C Fennessy

The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories
Edited by Ben Marcus
Anchor Books, $13

“The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories” is the ideal primer to contemporary fiction. Edited by Ben Marcus, it gives us over two dozen variations on the short story, all completely different, all perfectly crafted. The authors—people like David Foster Wallace, Stephen Dixon, Lydia Davis, George Saunders and Aimee Bender, among others—offer up strong and lively (sometimes even in death) characters and plots that barrel through your mind like a runaway locomotive, always making you ravenous for what comes next. There has not been a short story collection this important in a long time.—Steven Seighman

You Can't Get There From Here
By Jason
Fantagraphics Books, $12.95

A beautifully rendered tale that sets the doldrums of daily existence in stark contrast with celebrity, fantasy lives. The reader is shown a hunchbacked assistant’s drab existence alongside the on-goings of the mad scientist. Using “Frankenstein” as a touchstone, the story follows the hunchback meeting for daily coffee while the good doctor concocts monsters that wreak havoc on the town and his love life. This is a visually stunning comic that truly says everything necessary in as few words possible. —Nathan Walker

Wild Animus
By Rich Shapero
Too Far, $19.95

“Wild Animus” is about a self-absorbed man whose abuse of acid causes him to lose his grip on sanity and destroy the emotionally fragile woman who loves him. This novel is compelling not for Ransom’s search for spiritual awakening in Alaska’s Wrangell Mountains, but for the tragedy of Lindy’s loyalty to this inconsiderate, emotionally unavailable man. Her story is buried in the mounds of psychological musings that is Ransom’s “Wild Animus.” Dig deeper into the text and you’ll find a more interesting story beneath the surface. —Cathy Zegelin