Author Guide · Narrative Nonfiction
Books Written by
Beth Macy delivered newspapers as a girl in a small Ohio town, became the first in her family to go to college, and spent most of her career as a reporter at the newspaper in Roanoke, Virginia. As the industry shrank, she started writing books at fifty: about a furniture maker who fought offshoring, two Black brothers kidnapped into a circus in the Jim Crow South, and the opioid epidemic that tore through the towns she covered. Dopesick became an award-winning television series. Her latest book takes her back home to Ohio. This guide covers all five of her books in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 5 books · Narrative nonfiction · 2014–2025 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Beth Macy has published five books: Factory Man (2014), about globalisation and a Virginia furniture maker; Truevine (2016), about two brothers kidnapped into a circus; Dopesick (2018), about the opioid crisis; its follow-up Raising Lazarus (2022); and Paper Girl (2025), a memoir of her Ohio hometown, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.
Where to Start with Beth Macy
If you want the famous one
→ Dopesick (2018).
If you want the most recent
→ Paper Girl (2025).
If you want a forgotten story
→ Truevine (2016).
All 5 Beth Macy Books, in Order
Factory Man
John Bassett III, a furniture maker in southwest Virginia, fights back against cheap Chinese imports as his industry collapses around him, and Macy follows the effects of globalisation on the towns that depended on it.
Truevine
George and Willie Muse, two Black brothers with albinism from Truevine, Virginia, were taken into a travelling circus as children around 1899 and exhibited for decades, while their mother fought to get them back.
Dopesick
The opioid epidemic, from the marketing of OxyContin by Purdue Pharma to the small towns of Appalachia and the suburbs, told through the families, doctors and investigators caught up in it. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and became a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Hulu series.
Raising Lazarus
The follow-up to Dopesick: the people working on the ground to save lives in the overdose crisis, from harm-reduction workers to families pushing for accountability.
Paper Girl
Macy returns to her hometown of Urbana, Ohio, to understand how it changed, through declining mobility, addiction, political division and the loss of local news. It grew out of an essay about her mother's death and was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.
How Many Books Did Beth Macy Write?
Five books between 2014 and 2025.
- Opioid crisis — Dopesick (2018) and Raising Lazarus (2022). Read the entries →
- America left behind — Factory Man (2014) and Paper Girl (2025). Read the entries →
- History — Truevine (2016). Read the entries →
In What Order to Read Beth Macy
Her books are not a series, but Dopesick and Raising Lazarus belong together, and Paper Girl draws on themes from all the earlier books.
A reading path
1. Dopesick (2018)
2. Factory Man (2014)
3. Paper Girl (2025)
4. Truevine (2016)
Quick facts about Beth Macy
- Grew up
- Urbana, Ohio
- Career
- Longtime reporter at The Roanoke Times
- Lives
- Roanoke, Virginia
- Fellowships
- Nieman Fellowship at Harvard; Guggenheim Fellowship
- TV
- Executive producer and co-writer of the Hulu series Dopesick
- Books
- 5, from 2014 to 2025
How Beth Macy Works: Outsiders and Underdogs
Macy writes about outsiders and underdogs, and about the communities left behind by corporate decisions made elsewhere. Her books start in places she knows, in Virginia and Ohio.
She combines the people on the ground with the companies and policies above them, so that a book about one family's grief also explains how a drug was marketed.
Frequently asked questions about Beth Macy's books
How many books has Beth Macy written?
Beth Macy has published five books: Factory Man (2014), Truevine (2016), Dopesick (2018), Raising Lazarus (2022) and Paper Girl (2025).
What is Dopesick about?
Dopesick (2018) is about the American opioid epidemic, from the marketing of OxyContin to the communities devastated by addiction. It was adapted as a Hulu series.
What is Paper Girl about?
Paper Girl (2025) is a memoir in which Macy returns to her hometown of Urbana, Ohio, to explore the divides in American life.
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 hers.
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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