John Temple, an associate professor at the WVU Reed College of Media, is seeing a positive critical response to his book on a Florida pill mill and the roots of the opioid crisis.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two West Virginia University journalism professors are getting attention over recently released books, one on the nation’s opioid crisis and one on sex work.
John Temple’s book, “American Pain,” received a rating of 3 1/2 stars out of 4 from USA Today, was named one of the Best Books of 2015 by Suspense Magazine in the True Crime category and was covered in the New York Post. Temple has talked about the book for articles in The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post. Warner Brothers also optioned the book’s film rights, and it’s currently in development, a pre-production stage in the film industry that signifies a film could be shot but funding has not yet been dedicated to it.
Alison Bass’ book, “Getting Screwed: Sex Workers and the Law” hit stores last month and sold out twice on Amazon in the first three weeks. Bass has been interviewed by The New Republic on human trafficking, and the Dallas Morning News on her book. Her book was excerpted by Salon, and she has also written about sex work for The Huffington Post.
Temple is an associate professor of journalism at the WVU Reed College of Media, the author of two previous books, and the founder of WVU’s “West Virginia Uncovered” project, which teams student journalists with rural newspapers.
In his book, published in September, he chronicles the rise and fall of American Pain, the largest pill mill in the United States before it shut down in 2010 after a federal investigation, and how Florida’s lax prescription drug laws led to a pipeline of highly addictive drugs to other states, especially those in Appalachia…