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35th out of 206 books
—
85 voters
Pharmacology
by
Christopher Herz (Goodreads Author)
1993. San Francisco. The digital and pharmaceutical industries are booming. They're looking for the young, the hip, and those on the counterculture fringe to be both the face and consumer of their new world order. Recruited by an advertising agency focused on targeting a new drug to her own age demographic, Sarah Striker is grateful for the steady income, but begins to que...more
Paperback, 214 pages
Published
December 6th 2011
by AmazonEncore
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That had to be the craziest, coolest story I've ever read! I love people who try to stand up to the government for things like this. Sarah Striker did a fantastic job with it to with the help of her friend, Alberto. I was so glad I finally got around to reading this book because I've been staring at it on my shelf for the longest time, it feels like. I loved all of the relationships that Sarah got into because they added another layer to the story. The characters were very believable, like they...more
Finding what your are looking for never looks like you think it will"... A perception of Sarah Striker.. and can be applied to most of the human race. Pharmacology is a interesting mix of cultures an worlds that intertwine in one womans path in life for a time.. Characters are colorful and unique all unto themselves. While you see thru Sarahs eyes the journey she embarks on trying to find herself,do the right thing and help her Pops.. (which is what I call my dad) you see the people she surround...more
This is The Time Capsule you NEED to break open! Read this novel NOW!
For those of you who lived life through trial and error in the 90's, Pharmacology offers you an opportunity to shake your head and remember all of those experiences that should have left you rocking in a fetal position in the corner.
Christopher Herz takes you for a joy ride into the coming of age of twentysomethings in San Francisco circa 1993. The author exposes a very real sub culture of executives with a penchant for dominan...more
For those of you who lived life through trial and error in the 90's, Pharmacology offers you an opportunity to shake your head and remember all of those experiences that should have left you rocking in a fetal position in the corner.
Christopher Herz takes you for a joy ride into the coming of age of twentysomethings in San Francisco circa 1993. The author exposes a very real sub culture of executives with a penchant for dominan...more
It is always with in-trepidation that you start the second novel from an author, when you loved their first. It was with this in mind that I started Pharmacology by Christopher Herz. Would the book be as good as the first? Was this author just a one hit wonder? Could he continue his writing form into another novel to be loved?
Through this book we are taken into a world that we know exists, but may not be comfortable admitting exists. The world of pharmaceutical companies and the tactics that th...more
Through this book we are taken into a world that we know exists, but may not be comfortable admitting exists. The world of pharmaceutical companies and the tactics that th...more
Continuing with the first-person style that drew readers to his debut novel, author Christopher Herz is back with another literary treat that takes you into a world where nothing is ever as it seems. Our narrator Sarah finds out firsthand that when life happens it can disrupt the most simple of plans. She is looking for a way to make a difference and support herself and help her family, but when she finds out that her father has cancer, life begins to be just about doing all she can to help thos...more
This novel has caused me to open a new virtual shelf. The digital revolution is so recent, so immediater we are barely aware that the world has changed so irrevocably in such a short time. Sarah Striker ius a good soul who moves to San Francisco in order to make the most money possible to help her ailing father in Kansas City. Misssouri (she always stresses that distinction). Her McAllister Street housemates, a collection of x-gen "types," provide her access to the underworld of the City/ One of...more
I received a copy of this book from Goodreads First Reads.
This is another book where the description on the back is misleading. It sounds like a great story from the synopsis, when in reality is not great at all.
The biggest flaw of Pharmacology is the main character Sarah. I understand giving a character a unique voice to help the story, it help a lot when a book is told in first person. Sarah's voice, however, was annoying. Nearly every sentence leaves out the leading pronoun. Here is a quote f...more
This is another book where the description on the back is misleading. It sounds like a great story from the synopsis, when in reality is not great at all.
The biggest flaw of Pharmacology is the main character Sarah. I understand giving a character a unique voice to help the story, it help a lot when a book is told in first person. Sarah's voice, however, was annoying. Nearly every sentence leaves out the leading pronoun. Here is a quote f...more
Hmm - this book missed the mark for me. I enjoyed the PREMISE and the look into life on the cusp of computers and technology, but it spoke more to me as someone who is longing for a time before computers who also has a personal vendetta against the health care industry. The part where Sarah's artist friend Colin quit the high paying job because he couldn't stand to look at a computer screen anymore really seemed irresponsible but I guess things were simpler and life was cheaper and easier to liv...more
I have never ever heard of this book and found it when I did a search for audiobooks narrated by Kate Rudd. You know Kate! She narrated The Fault In Our Stars! I loved her work with that book so much it made me purchase this one solely based on her work (and the price of course).
This story centers around Sarah Striker, a young high school graduate who moves to San Francisco to make some money to help pay for her father's cancer treatment. At the time of her leaving Kansas City, Mo. San Francis...more
This story centers around Sarah Striker, a young high school graduate who moves to San Francisco to make some money to help pay for her father's cancer treatment. At the time of her leaving Kansas City, Mo. San Francis...more
(Review originally posted on my blog, misprintedpages.wordpress.com)
Pharmacology is an interesting breed of book. In one big pot it melts together music, gay and lesbianism, joblessness, and biggest of all, drugs and the world we live in—how it’s changed and continues to change, carried as we are on the currents of life.
The novel follows Sarah Striker, a girl who’s anything but brittle and knows the value of money and will do anything she can to get her hands on it. Her cause isn’t a selfish one...more
Pharmacology is an interesting breed of book. In one big pot it melts together music, gay and lesbianism, joblessness, and biggest of all, drugs and the world we live in—how it’s changed and continues to change, carried as we are on the currents of life.
The novel follows Sarah Striker, a girl who’s anything but brittle and knows the value of money and will do anything she can to get her hands on it. Her cause isn’t a selfish one...more
Basically what everyone else is saying: interesting premise that falls a bit flat, and an obnoxious main character that ruins it all. The main character seemed to slingshot back and forth between annoying cynicism and even more annoying naivety. I can see what qualifies as tough in Missouri being chewed up in San Francisco, but it didn't read that way. It was just a bad patchwork of traits. The sans-pronoun sentences didn't bother me, as I assumed they were meant to show how her attention span h...more
I was worried about this book when I started it. I voice of the narrator, Sarah, is jaded and 1990s-hipster. Much of the book is written is phrases that leave out the subject pronouns, and she also seems to report on what is happening rather than react to it. She seems detached, and the book floats along without much of a clear sense of how much time has passed. Events happen to her and she just keeps swimming...I wanted to feel more than I did.
However, I just kept reading. At some point, I knew...more
However, I just kept reading. At some point, I knew...more
May 01, 2012
Anneliese
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
commentaries-on-life,
literature
I'm not sure what to say about this book, exactly. It's half expose of some oddball San Fran residents and half expose of the drug marketing industry; half internal conflicts blended with love, feeling, and disappointment, and half views of how to survive in reality. Drugs, booze, the law, women and men and relationships, real life and a career, living with yourself, scary half-truths of drugs and disease. I dunno. The review here is as scattered as the book sometimes, but ultimately I liked it....more
There is no way to sum up the literary complexity of Herz’s book Pharmacology. It is amazing, there is so much going on. Herz’s characters break new grounds. He takes you farther into the dark truths of every one of his character’s lives. I thought I knew or understood Herz’s writing, I was so wrong. Just when I thought I might have figured it out I’d get slapped with a new twist. I loved it. My head is still spinning from all the lessons that could be taken from it. You will not be disappointed...more
This book is so spot on. As a person who lived through the boom of the digital age, you see where the world went very wrong. I complain about high school students who can't communicate outside of a text message, and the answer why is in these pages. And in the coffee, and the medications, and the disconnect with reality.
This is a book that will make you want to live off the grid. Pack up everything "analog" and go live a real life with real experiences. I hope Sarah Striker does the same with h...more
This is a book that will make you want to live off the grid. Pack up everything "analog" and go live a real life with real experiences. I hope Sarah Striker does the same with h...more
4 likes · like · see review
Ugh. The description should have been, "I am going to use a lot of catch phrases from the San Francisco sub-culture so you'll know I was really there." The description was completely misleading. The sub-culture could have been summed up in a few paragraphs. That era has been described so many times, and in a much better way that the book brings nothing new to the table. The obscure slang words "can" to refer to spray can of the graffiti artist or "zine" to refer to a underground magazine are tot...more
Sarah Striker is a creative Midwesterner who follows the California dream and lands in San Francisco just in time for the digital boom. She dives into the underground scene, before going undercover to expose the bad practices of the pharmaceutical industry. Along the way she learns she's not alone in being on the fringe, just how easy it to lose yourself, and how far people will go to make money.
Overall a good read. It took me a while to get into/over the writing style (the missing I in sentence...more
Overall a good read. It took me a while to get into/over the writing style (the missing I in sentence...more
The dawn of the digital age and the coming of age of the drug industry intersect in a perfect storm of unethical marketing and testing. The novel follows Sarah who is living on the fringe in San Francisco, trying to put out her Zine and make enough to get by. She is recruited into this new drug marketing industry as she looks to make money to help out her father who has cancer. Herz uses a somewhat abrupt writing style that took a little to get used to, but the tone really does fit the character...more
I can't even remember how I came across this book. It might have been a Kindle recommendation baded on other downloads . . . anyway, I'm glad I read it! Solid 4 stars!
I don't typically give a synopsis of the story when I do my reviews, you can do that work for yourself. I'll just give ya what I liked.
This book had a little of a lot of things. It had some intrigue, some romance, some drugs, some modern day urban vampire wierdness. Most of all it had a good solid story. AND it made you THINK!! How...more
I don't typically give a synopsis of the story when I do my reviews, you can do that work for yourself. I'll just give ya what I liked.
This book had a little of a lot of things. It had some intrigue, some romance, some drugs, some modern day urban vampire wierdness. Most of all it had a good solid story. AND it made you THINK!! How...more
I picked this book up for my kindle as part of a $1 deal. I was not expecting to like it all that much because it is not my normal genre. I need to start taking more chances with books that are well reviewed that aren't my normal read.
The book was a quick read. The story moved along and the cast of characters were well thought out and development was good. The gimmick of the plot twist wasn't annoying and gave me food for thought for several days. Overall, I enjoyed the book.
For an eBook, there...more
The book was a quick read. The story moved along and the cast of characters were well thought out and development was good. The gimmick of the plot twist wasn't annoying and gave me food for thought for several days. Overall, I enjoyed the book.
For an eBook, there...more
As a true fan of the author's first book, The Last Block in Harlem, I anxiously awaited the release of Pharmacology. Christopher Herz has done it again. He has a unique ability to bring certain applicable truths for life through the journey of the most unique characters.
I don't want to give away any details- but you will be surprised. I was brought into a world I have never known, and would never have known without Sarah Stryker and her list of acquaintances. Its quite the eye-opener. Read it w...more
I don't want to give away any details- but you will be surprised. I was brought into a world I have never known, and would never have known without Sarah Stryker and her list of acquaintances. Its quite the eye-opener. Read it w...more
Christopher Herz has done it again-greating a moving, surprising plot that will keep you hooked until the end in his second novel "Pharmacology"!
Herz creates vivid characters that jump off the page. Their true to life struggles and experiences pull readers in and keep them invested in the story until the last page. The plot and storyline are unique and captivating, leaving readers thinking about how modern technologies and medications have an effect on their own lives.
You won't want to miss ou...more
Herz creates vivid characters that jump off the page. Their true to life struggles and experiences pull readers in and keep them invested in the story until the last page. The plot and storyline are unique and captivating, leaving readers thinking about how modern technologies and medications have an effect on their own lives.
You won't want to miss ou...more
Ehhhh. I was not enamored by this book. The concept and the style were really interesting at first, so I pressed on, and by the time I was bored (give or take 60% through) I wanted to know how this awful depressing tale was resolved. (For the record: the ending made me cry and was more or less what I expected, but satisfying to a degree.) I'm kind of relieved it's over. I know Herz was trying to write something that would make me uncomfortable, and he succeeded. Good for him, I guess, but defini...more
I received the book as part of the Goodreads First Reads program.
About the 3 Star Rating:
Pharmacology is written in what you might call a semi-hardboiled or semi-noir style. But I’m not a person that is a fan of even true noir. Had I known the book had that “gritty pulp fiction” tone I would not have entered the First Reads contest and let someone who appreciates this style more win. (Side note: maybe Goodreads should let us preview the books in the contest?) But that’s not what happened, so fo...more
About the 3 Star Rating:
Pharmacology is written in what you might call a semi-hardboiled or semi-noir style. But I’m not a person that is a fan of even true noir. Had I known the book had that “gritty pulp fiction” tone I would not have entered the First Reads contest and let someone who appreciates this style more win. (Side note: maybe Goodreads should let us preview the books in the contest?) But that’s not what happened, so fo...more
Not really my kind of book. It's set in early nineties San Francisco, during the beginning of the Internet era, and is about a combination of the rise of the Internet and the evils of Big Pharma. I felt like the book couldn't decide what it was damning - the pharmaceutical industries, the Internet, modern living... I also found the writing style a bit too... stylish, as though the author was trying too hard to have a unique voice for his narrator.
Enjoyed this a lot! Very strong narrative voice sucked me in. I wish Sarah was real and we could be friends. Didn't feel cheated by the ending which is very important to me. I like a book that is entertaining but also makes me think and question the world. I would recommend this book to people interested in how the digital age has changed society and how big corporations manipulate individuals.
This is the second time in my whole life that I did not finish a book. I got to page 35 and I could not read anymore. This book is awful! It is about a girl who moves the city and shares a house with other young kids. There is a young couple who is addicted to drugs and makes a living by being prostitutes. The book might turn into a inspiring story in the end but I could not even get though the beginning.
Based on this book, complete sentences are a thing of the past. My thoughts? Stark imagery. Sanctimonious and self-righteous. Awkward and tiresome but probably purposeful phrasing.
Honestly, it had its good parts, but if you buy into the premise you'll have to unplug from the grid and move to a shack in the middle of nowhere.
Honestly, it had its good parts, but if you buy into the premise you'll have to unplug from the grid and move to a shack in the middle of nowhere.
Have to remember the time period is around 1993 before the internet really started to take over. Sarah moves from Missouri to San Fran to help earn more money to help her father who has cancer. She makes underground magazines and soon is involved in pharmaceutical guinea pigs. Kind of an odd book, but I found I couldn't stop reading it. Would read the author's first book.
I got this book for a dollar through an amazon deal. It was a quick read, interesting insight into the pharma industry. I didn't really care about the main character though and the whole san francisco drug indie bisexual thing was a little trying so hard to be cool for me.
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After working in the New York advertising world and seeing the possibilities that social media and the digital revolution held for writers, Christopher Herz fully went after his dream of writing novels and took to selling copies of his first book, The Last Block in Harlem, on the streets of New York. His unorthodox efforts and fresh contemporary prose garnered the attention of media outlets everyw...more
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“You need to be careful of people who tell you that adventure exists at the next turn--because it turns out that they are not really walking into a story, but running away from a history that chases them throughout time.”
—
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Pharmacology is an Ama...more
Feb 23, 2012 02:29pm