In Dreamland, Quinones weaves together many different stories on a variety of themes: addiction, the pharmaceutical industry, law enforcement, and more. Below is a list of the major themes in the book, and the pages that cover these themes. Use these lists to follow the thread of one specific theme or story throughout the book.
Community and Impact on Community
| Chapter Title | Pages |
| Preface: Portsmouth, Ohio | 1-4 |
| Introduction | 5-9 |
| Collision: Ground Zero | 193-196 |
| Pentecostal Piety, Fierce Scratches | 236-240; 322-323 |
| Now It’s Your Neighbor’s Kid | 273-277 |
| A Parent’s Soul Pain | 286-300 |
| America | 303-309 |
| Nobody Can Do It Alone | 324-330 |
| Up from the Rubble | 333-345 |
Pain, Addiction, and the Pharmaceutical Industry
| Chapter Title | Pages |
| Dr. Jick’s Letter | 15-16 |
| Liberace in Appalachia | 23-27 |
| The Adman | 28-31 |
| The Molecule | 36-39 |
| The Poppy | 52-55 |
| Searching for the Holy Grail | 76-79 |
| The Pain | 80-85 |
| Pain and the Pro Wrestler | 86-88 |
| The Revolution | 92-99 |
| The Landmark Study | 107-110 |
| Purdue | 124-127 |
| Swing with OxyContin | 132-139 |
| What’s OxyContin? | 145-147 |
| Liberace Shows the Way | 153-160 |
| Two-Thousand-Year-Old Questions | 187-192 |
| Canaries in Coal Mines | 197-201 |
| Fifty, Hundred Cases a Month | 202-205 |
| Junkie Kingdom in Dreamland | 206-219 |
| A Criminal Case | 220-221 |
| A Tidal Wave Forming | 232-235 |
| We Was Carrying the Epidemic | 241-246 |
| More Cases Than Car Crashes | 247-252 |
| A Pro Wrestler's Legacy | 253-255 |
| The Criminal Case | 264-269 |
| The Treatment Is You | 310-315 |
The Xalisco Heroin Distribution Network and Law Enforcement
| Chapter Title | Pages |
| All from the Same Town | 17-22 |
| Delivered Like Pizza | 40-46 |
| Easier than Sugercane | 56-67 |
| Just a Phone Call Away | 68-71 |
| The Man Comes | 89-92 |
| All about the 501s | 100-106 |
| We Realized This Is Corporate | 115-123 |
| The Man and the Nayarit | 128-131 |
| The Man at Home | 140-144 |
| Smack Clans in the Sanctuary | 148-152 |
| The Man in the Heartland | 161-168 |
| Bodies Are the Key | 169-172 |
| Heroin Like Hamburgers | 178-180 |
| Tar Pit | 181-183 |
| Took over the OxyContin Belt | 222-225 |
| The Final Convenience | 226-231 |
| Great Time to Be a Heroin Dealer | 256-263 |
| Like Cigarette Executives | 278-282 |
| No Scarface, No Kingpins | 283-285 |
| The Internet of Dope | 316-323 |
Enrique's Story
| Chapter Title | Pages |
| Enrique | 13-14 |
| Enrique Begins | 32-35 |
| Enrique Alone | 47-51 |
| Enrique Adrift | 72-75 |
| Enrique Redeemed | 111-114 |
| Enrique on Top | 173-177 |
Ohio
| Chapter Title | Pages |
| Preface: Portsmouth, Ohio | 1-4 |
| Introduction | 5-9 |
| All from the Same Town | 17-22 |
| Liberace in Appalachia | 23-27 |
| Swing with OxyContin | 132-139 |
| What's OxyContin | 145-147 |
| Liberace Shows the Way | 153-160 |
| The Main in the Heartland | 161-168 |
| Collision: Ground Zero | 193-196 |
| Canaries in Coal Mines | 197-201 |
| Junkie Kingdom in Dreamland | 206-219 |
| Took over the OxyContin Belt | 222-225 |
| More Cases than Car Crashes | 247-252 |
| A Parent's Soul Pain | 286-300 |
| The Internet of Dope | 316-323 |
| Nobody Can Do It Alone | 324-330 |
| Up from the Rubble | 333-345 |
| Afterword | 350-351 |
Outline originally created by the Virginia Commonwealth University Summer Reading Program.