I purchased this book for my own personal collection.
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Published: June 28, 2022
Summary:
From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue by one of the most decorated journalists of our time.
Patrick Radden Keefe has garnered prizes ranging from the National Magazine Award to the Orwell Prize to the National Book Critics Circle Award for his meticulously reported, hypnotically engaging work on the many ways people behave badly. Rogues brings together a dozen of his most celebrated articles from The New Yorker. As Keefe says in his preface, “They reflect on some of my abiding preoccupations: crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial.”
Keefe brilliantly explores the intricacies of forging $150,000 vintage wines, examines whether a whistleblower who dared to expose money laundering at a Swiss bank is a hero or a fabulist, spends time in Vietnam with Anthony Bourdain, chronicles the quest to bring down a cheerful international black market arms merchant, and profiles a passionate death penalty attorney who represents the “worst of the worst,” among other bravura works of literary journalism.
The appearance of his byline in The New Yorker is always an event, and collected here for the first time readers can see his work forms an always enthralling but deeply human portrait of criminals and rascals, as well as those who stand up against them.
My thoughts:
It’s very rare that I am drawn to collections of essays, but one day while wandering around the bookstore, I kept coming back to this book. I would glance through it, put it down and walk away and then keep coming back to it, so I ended up purchasing it and I’m so glad I did because these stories were just so fascinating! I haven’t read any of Patrick Radden Keefe’s books yet, though I do own a copy of his book, Say Anthing, which I do hope to read soon and I have my eye on his newer book, Empire of Pain.
As a fan of true crime, of course I found these stories to resonate, though not all were about criminals – there is one about Anthony Bourdain after all. And as I find with reading these types of books – short stories and such – there were some I liked more than others. But it was more the writing that really got to me here. These were such impeccably detailed, well-researched stories that kept me engaged and that is really what intrigued me to begin with.
Here are a few of my favorite stories: Journeyman is a great piece about the time Keefe spent with Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam. It left me wanting to know more about Bourdain and feeling sad all over again about his tragic death. The Worst of the Worst was an interesting piece about the lawyer who defended one of the Boston bombers. I vividly remember that day, so this piece really stood out to me. But probably my favorite of all the pieces was A Loaded Gun, the story about Amy Bishop, the professor at University of Alabama who opened up fire on her colleagues during a staff meeting. This is true crime reporting at its best and I could have read a whole book about this.
I’m so glad I took a chance on this book…I ended up really enjoying it and now I cannot wait to read more of Patrick Radden Keefe’s stuff! I clearly love his writing style…he definitely has a new fan in me!!!
