Alexander Sammartino | |
|---|---|
 Sammartino at the 2024 National Book Festival | |
| Born | 1991 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University |
| Spouse | Kelley Rowland (m. 2020) |
| Website | |
| alexandersammartino | |
Alexander Sammartino is an American novelist currently living in Brooklyn, New York. In 2024, Sammartino published his debut novel, Last Acts, which the New York Times heralded as hilarious and exceptional. [1] Nylon magazine listed Sammartino's book as a must-read. [2]
Sammartino received his MFA from Syracuse University in 2018. [3] He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their cat, Godot.[ citation needed ]
Set in Phoenix, Arizona, Last Acts is the satirical story of a father and son with "crackling prose and real depth of feeling." [4] The father, David Rizzo, owns a struggling firearm store that he is on the brink of losing and the son, Nick, is a heroin addict. [5] After a near fatal overdose, Nick reunites with his father and the two embark on a plan to save the father's business. [6] Nick makes a video advertisement for the store, confessing his recent overdose, and promising a percentage of each firearm sale to go to rehabilitation facilities and halfway houses. [7] The advertisement propels the store to local fame and controversy, and hijinks, hope and disaster ensues. [1] [8]
Last Acts addresses several themes in contemporary American society: gun culture, the opioid epidemic, economic uncertainly, polarizing politics, racial inequity, and religious intolerance, with empathy, humanity and grim humor. [9] [10] [11] Last Acts was published by Simon & Schuster. [2]
Timothy James McVeigh was an American domestic terrorist who perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The bombing killed 168 people, injured 680, and destroyed one-third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. It remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic. It is 20 to 40 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine; its primary clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgeries. Fentanyl is also used as a sedative. Depending on the method of delivery, fentanyl can be very fast acting and ingesting a relatively small quantity can cause overdose. Fentanyl works by activating μ-opioid receptors. Fentanyl is sold under the brand names Actiq, Duragesic and Sublimaze, among others.
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist: a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. For example, it is used to restore breathing after an opioid overdose. Effects begin within two minutes when given intravenously, five minutes when injected into a muscle, and ten minutes as a nasal spray. Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids for 30 to 90 minutes.
El Sayyid Nosair is a convicted terrorist, currently serving a life sentence. An Egyptian-born American citizen, he assassinated Meir Kahane in 1990 in New York City, and was later convicted of involvement in the 1993 New York City landmark bomb plot. Nosair was acquitted in his initial trial on murder charges for the assassination of Kahane, but in his later trial was found to have committed the murder.
Speedball, powerball, or over and under is the polydrug mixture of a stimulant with a depressant, usually an opioid. The most well-known mixture used for recreational drug use is that of cocaine and heroin; however, amphetamines can also be mixed with morphine and/or fentanyl. A speedball may be taken intravenously or by nasal insufflation.
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Opioid withdrawal symptoms include nausea, muscle aches, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, agitation, and a low mood. Addiction and dependence are important components of opioid use disorder.
Helena Christensen is a Danish fashion model. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, co-founder and original creative director for Nylon magazine, and she is a supporter of funding for breast cancer organizations and other philanthropic charities.
Danzy Senna is an American novelist and essayist. She is the author of six books and numerous essays about race, gender and American identity, including Caucasia (1998), Symptomatic (2003),New People (2017), named by Time as one of the Top Ten Novels of the year, and Colored Television (2024). Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker,The Atlantic,Vogue, and The New York Times. She is a professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Monroe Jackson Rathbone V is an American actor, singer, and musician best known for his role as Jasper Hale in The Twilight Saga film series. From 2008 to 2012, he was the vocalist and occasional guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboardist of the funk rock band 100 Monkeys.
Medetomidine is a veterinary anesthetic drug with potent sedative effects and emerging illicit drug adulterant.
25I-NBOMe, also known as Smiles, or N-Bomb, is a novel synthetic psychoactive substance with strong hallucinogenic properties, synthesized in 2003 for research purposes. Since 2010, it has circulated in the recreational drug scene, often misrepresented as LSD.
An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to respiratory depression, a lethal condition that can cause hypoxia from slow and shallow breathing. Other symptoms include small pupils and unconsciousness; however, its onset can depend on the method of ingestion, the dosage and individual risk factors. Although there were over 110,000 deaths in 2017 due to opioids, individuals who survived also faced adverse complications, including permanent brain damage.
Christian Joy is an American costume designer and artist best known for her stage costume designs for Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O. Using found articles and occasionally eschewing thread and print for glue and marker pens she has influenced contemporary fashion with punk and DIY stylings.
In the United States, prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) or prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are state-run programs which collect and distribute data about the prescription and dispensation of federally controlled substances and, depending on state requirements, other potentially abusable prescription drugs. PMPs are meant to help prevent adverse drug-related events such as opioid overdoses, drug diversion, and substance abuse by decreasing the amount and/or frequency of opioid prescribing, and by identifying those patients who are obtaining prescriptions from multiple providers or those physicians overprescribing opioids.
The Goldfinch is a novel by the American author Donna Tartt. It won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, among other honors. Published in 2013, it was Tartt's first novel since The Little Friend in 2002.
Brandon del Pozo, PhD, MPA, MA is an assistant professor of Medicine and Health Services, Policy, and Practice (Research) at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and a research scientist at Rhode Island Hospital. He is also a faculty member of the Master of Science Program in Addiction Policy and Practice at the Georgetown University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
There is an ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States, originating out of both medical prescriptions and illegal sources. It has been called "one of the most devastating public health catastrophes of our time". The opioid epidemic unfolded in three waves. The first wave of the epidemic in the United States began in the late 1990s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when opioids were increasingly prescribed for pain management, resulting in a rise in overall opioid use throughout subsequent years. The second wave was from an expansion in the heroin market to supply already addicted people. The third wave starting in 2013 was marked by a steep 1,040% increase in the synthetic opioid-involved death rate as synthetic opioids flooded the US market.
Prince Harvey is an American rapper, music producer, artist and activist. He is best known for his album PHATASS which he recorded at an Apple Store in New York City.
The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs called opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the significant medical, social, psychological, demographic and economic consequences of the medical, non-medical, and recreational abuse of these medications.
Stephen Austin Eubanks was an American motivational speaker on addiction and recovery. He was one of the most well-known survivors of the Columbine High School massacre, both in its immediate aftermath and in post-event commentary. During the shooting, Eubanks' best friend, 17-year-old Corey DePooter, was killed and Eubanks was shot in his hand and knee. Eubanks struggled with opioid addiction and later heroin use for years after the shooting. He was the chief operations officer for the Foundry Treatment Center. Eubanks died of a heroin overdose in 2019.
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