New York: Bloomsbury, (2009) dj. Hardcover first edition - A persuasive - and still relevant book - by this journalist, one which "reveals the fallacies of this myth by showing how, over the past three decades, small-town America has been blighted by methamphetamine. Over four years, Reding studied meth production and addiction in Oelwein, Iowa, a rural community about 300 miles from Chicago. With a population of just over 6,000, Oelwein serves as a case study of the problems many small towns face today. Once a vibrant farming community where union work and small businesses were plentiful, Oelwein is now struggling through a transition to agribusiness and low-wage employment or, alternatively, unemployment. These conditions, Reding shows, have made the town susceptible to methamphetamine. . . it also argues that big-city ignorance - fueled by the media - toward small-town decay is both dangerous and appalling." (Washington Post) Note on sources. 255 pp. ISBN: 978-1596916500.