Rogues
True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
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4.3 • 13 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
From the Baillie Gifford Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author of Say Nothing, Empire of Pain and London Falling comes twelve enthralling stories of crime, corruption, secrets and lies.
‘A new book by Keefe means drop everything and close the blinds; you’ll be turning pages for hours . . . Highly entertaining’ - Los Angeles Times
‘Eminently bingeable, religiously fact-checked and seductively globetrotting ’ - The Observer
Patrick Radden Keefe has been internationally recognized for his meticulously crafted, enthralling and deeply human reporting on criminals and rascals, as well as those who stand up to them. Rogues is a high-octane collection that brings together a dozen of his most celebrated articles from the New Yorker.
Keefe 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’.
Merging gripping true crime storytelling with fearless investigative journalism, Patrick Radden Keefe is undeniably one of the great nonfiction writers of our time.
'The finest non-fiction writer we have' – Elizabeth Day
'A gifted storyteller who excels at capturing personalities – The Washington Post
'We are fortunate to have him pounding the pavement to expose real-life darkness' - The Irish Times
'[Keefe] has an ability to unfurl the narrative in a way that is completely engrossing' - Louis Theroux
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
I’ve been writing for The New Yorker for 20 years, and four of my books have started as stories in the magazine. But I also love writing a piece that captures the whole story at a shorter length—the nonfiction equivalent of a short story. Rogues is a collection of my favourite standalone pieces from The New Yorker, focused on charismatic rascals, crime and corruption, secrets and lies.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The 12 essays in this superlative collection from New Yorker staff writer Keefe (Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty) reflect, as he says in his preface, his abiding preoccupations: "crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial." "The Jefferson Bottles" chronicles how the sale of bottles of wine that supposedly belonged to Thomas Jefferson, for hundreds of thousands of dollars, resulted in a lifelong crusade against wine fraud by billionaire Bill Koch. "Crime Family" charts the daily life in hiding of Astrid Holleeder, a Dutch woman who brought down her own crime family by testifying against her brother. "A Loaded Gun" explores why neurobiologist Amy Bishop shot and killed three colleagues at the University of Alabama decades after she was suspected of killing her own brother. "Winning" takes a look at the rise of Donald Trump from the point of view of Mark Burnett, creator of The Apprentice, and in "Journeyman," chef Anthony Bourdain, more rebel than rogue, muses on dining with Barack Obama. Every one of these selections is a journalistic gem. Immensely enjoyable writing married with fascinating subjects makes this a must-read.
