Author Guide · Narrative Nonfiction
Books Written by
Sam Quinones spent ten years as a freelance reporter in Mexico, writing about narco-balladeers, popsicle makers and lynch mobs. Back in the United States, he discovered that young men from one small town in the Mexican state of Nayarit had built a heroin distribution system that worked like pizza delivery, and that it was spreading through the American towns where a new painkiller had already created a market. Dreamland won the National Book Critics Circle Award. This guide covers all four of his books in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 books · Narrative nonfiction · 2001–2021 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Sam Quinones has published four books of narrative nonfiction: two collections about Mexico and Mexican migration, True Tales from Another Mexico (2001) and Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream (2007); Dreamland (2015), about the opioid epidemic; and The Least of Us (2021), about fentanyl and methamphetamine. He has also published a book of photographs.
Where to Start with Sam Quinones
If you want the famous one
→ Dreamland (2015).
If you want the most recent
→ The Least of Us (2021).
If you want Mexico
→ True Tales from Another Mexico (2001).
All 4 Sam Quinones Books, in Order
True Tales from Another Mexico
Stories from life on the margins of Mexico during its political transformation: drag queens, popsicle makers, Oaxacan basketball players, a lynch mob and the murdered narco-balladeer Chalino Sánchez.
Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream
True stories of Mexican immigrants on both sides of the border, from a man who goes north for a gun to avenge his father to a taco empire in Chicago and drug-trafficking Mennonite settlements.
Dreamland
Two stories that met in small-town America: the aggressive marketing of the painkiller OxyContin, and the young men from Xalisco, Nayarit, who sold black-tar heroin with a delivery system modelled on pizza. It has been named one of the best nonfiction books of recent decades.
The Least of Us
How synthetic drugs, fentanyl and a new, more potent methamphetamine, replaced plant-based drugs, and the communities and people fighting back. It was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.
How Many Books Did Sam Quinones Write?
Four books of narrative nonfiction between 2001 and 2021, plus a book of photographs.
- Mexico — True Tales from Another Mexico and Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream. Read the entries →
- Drugs in America — Dreamland (2015) and The Least of Us (2021). Read the entries →
- Photography — listed further down. See the full list →
In What Order to Read Sam Quinones
Dreamland and The Least of Us are best read in that order: the second picks up the story of the drug epidemic where the first ends.
A reading path
1. Dreamland (2015)
2. The Least of Us (2021)
3. True Tales from Another Mexico (2001)
Everything Else Sam Quinones Wrote: The Full List
Beyond his four books of narrative nonfiction, a book of photographs.
Open a form with the + to see every book in it.
Other books
1
1 book · 2019
- 2019The Virgin of the American Dreamphotojournalism
Quick facts about Sam Quinones
- Born
- Claremont, California
- Education
- University of California, Berkeley
- Mexico
- Freelance reporter in Mexico, 1994–2004
- Los Angeles Times
- Reporter, 2004–2014
- Prize
- National Book Critics Circle Award, for Dreamland
- Books
- 4 of narrative nonfiction, 2001–2021
How Sam Quinones Works: Following the Market
Quinones reports on drugs as a business, following supply and demand from Mexican villages to American towns, and from pharmaceutical boardrooms to street corners.
He tells it through people: dealers, addicts, parents, police and doctors, many of whom he found in prison or in recovery and who agreed to talk.
Frequently asked questions about Sam Quinones's books
How many books has Sam Quinones written?
Sam Quinones has published four books of narrative nonfiction: True Tales from Another Mexico (2001), Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream (2007), Dreamland (2015) and The Least of Us (2021).
What is Dreamland about?
Dreamland (2015) tells how the marketing of OxyContin and a heroin distribution network from Xalisco, Mexico, combined to fuel America's opioid epidemic. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
What is The Least of Us about?
The Least of Us (2021) follows the shift to synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, and the people trying to respond to it.
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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