{"id":16932,"date":"2026-03-20T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=16932"},"modified":"2026-03-20T13:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T13:00:57","slug":"patrick-radden-keefe-reading-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2026\/03\/20\/patrick-radden-keefe-reading-list\/","title":{"rendered":"A Patrick Radden Keefe reading list"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
\n
\n \n

Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a> delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Dear Storyboard community: <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

If you happen to be in Boston next weekend, I’d love for you to join me on Saturday, March 28 at Boston University’s Power of Narrative conference<\/a>, where I\u2019ll be interviewing The New Yorker’s Patrick Radden Keefe<\/a> about his forthcoming book, \u201cLondon Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth,\u201d<\/a> and his approach to reporting and writing award-winning stories and books including \u201cSay Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland\u201d<\/a> and \u201cEmpire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty.\u201d<\/a> You can register for the conference here<\/a>, and attendees will also receive a copy of \u201cEmpire of Pain.\u201d <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Keefe’s latest book, to be released on April 7, expands on his 2024 New Yorker story about the mysterious death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler<\/a>, who died after jumping from the balcony of a luxury apartment building overlooking the River Thames in London. Brettler’s death led to a series of discoveries by his parents: he had created a secret life portraying himself as the son of a Russian oligarch and putting him into contact with the London underworld.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Having read the story, and now the book, I’m struck by Keefe’s approach to both mediums \u2014 and how one complements the other in his reporting and writing process. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

We at Storyboard have been following Keefe’s meticulous reporting for over a decade, and his books and stories have earned numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Here are two stories from the Storyboard archive analyzing some of Keefe’s memorable work. And for those who can’t attend in-person next week, I’ll be sure to report back on our conversation. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

\u2018Why\u2019s This So Good?\u2019 Patrick Radden Keefe and \u2018Where The Bodies Are Buried\u2019 (2014)<\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

\u201cIn 15,700 words, [Keefe] steeps readers in the daily terrors and psychological destruction wrought by decades of guerilla warfare in Northern Ireland. Readers understand by the story\u2019s end that the grinding violence of the Troubles is not a historical conflict, but one that still fumes, indeed sometimes bursts to life, in the brick alleys and warrens today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

\u2018Why\u2019s this so good?\u2019 Patrick Radden Keefe and the loaded gun (2014) <\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

\u201c[Keefe] tells a tale about the very fallibility of storytelling, one which, bleak though its conclusion may be, we can believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Links of note<\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n \n