Against the vibrantly colored stained glass and intricately painted ceiling, Patrick Radden Keefe’s neutral-cladden outfit and unassuming posture were far from the most visually engaging sight in the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple.
But his charisma, humor and reflective nature enraptured the sold-out crowd for more than an hour as he discussed his new book and writing processes in a discussion with author Gillian Flynn (Medill MSJ ’97) Thursday night.
Keefe’s latest book, “London Falling,” was released April 7 and recently earned a place on The New York Times’ bestseller list. He’s a staff writer for The New Yorker, and has also received critical acclaim for many of his books, including “Say Nothing,” which was adapted into an award-winning limited television series.
“London Falling” was originally published as a magazine article in The New Yorker in 2024. The extended nonfiction book begins with the death of seemingly normal 19-year-old London resident Zac Brettler, but extensively focuses on his alter ego — one who had connections within London’s criminal underworld that might have contributed to his death.
Book talk attendee Ruth Lyons said she’s a fan of both Keefe’s magazine articles and nonfiction books. She added that she was interested in hearing more about what inspires Keefe’s projects.
“I think it’s interesting how he can find seemingly innocuous things, … little nuggets, and then extrapolate huge stories out of them,” Lyons said.
In the case of “London Falling,” Keefe said he found the story through a suggestion he received while on set for “Say Nothing.”
He said that he is typically skeptical of story ideas that others pitch to him.
“Usually, I develop this feeling in my stomach as they start talking. Because within about a minute, I can tell, it’s like — you have a story. It’s not a story for me.”
But this pitch ended up becoming the basis for the article version of “London Falling.”
He noted that the experience of writing “London Falling” differed from some of his other journalistic work because the main subjects — the Brettler family — were cooperative, even though they had previously been very private about Zac’s death.
Keefe said he warned the family about the story’s potential implications at the very beginning of the process.
“What I said to them was, ‘I think this is a great story. I would kill to write this story. But I don’t want to twist your arm in a way that you might later regret,’” Keefe said.
Keefe said he also told the family upfront that once he began researching and writing, he would publish the work even if they changed their minds.
He said he included many family secrets in his writing that the Brettlers “didn’t realize would end up in the book,” and that they may have preferred to be omitted, but the family recognized the need to include these details and handled it in a “resilient, sophisticated” way.
“This is a book about a boy who lies,” Keefe said. “And in a book about lies, it’s important that you really embrace the truth, not just as a philosophical concept but as a process.”
Book talk attendee Jack Folstein said he had already read the book and enjoyed it.
“His writing style is really good,” Folstein said. “I think it’s very narrative, even though it’s still nonfiction, and it was like 300-some pages and felt much shorter. You really fly through it.”
Beyond speaking about “London Falling,” Keefe discussed his broader journalistic techniques. He said this often involves conversations with strangers, which his teenage sons find embarrassing.
Keefe said he is unconvinced the best stories can be found online, and that they instead tend to find him by accident.
“I just think of myself as a guy who’s walking along the beach looking for an interesting seashell,” Keefe said. “It’s all out there. I just have to keep moving and picking stuff up.”
Near the end of the talk, Keefe was asked to explain something he said in a profile of him in The New York Times by journalist Jonah E. Bromwich, in which Keefe said he felt like he was “living a righteous life.”
While Keefe noted that the quote sounded “better in context,” he went on to explain some of the more altruistic motivations behind his work.
“What I was trying to get across in that article was that I’m no hero,” Keefe said. “I make no claims for my own virtue. There’s a million little ethical compromises that I make every day. But broadly speaking, I can look at my kids, and I think I’ll be able to look at my grandkids and say, in those moments, I tried to do the right thing.”
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— ‘The Ending Writes Itself’ promises, delivers killer premise
— Medill alum Carly Schwartz advocates for self-love, mental health rehabilitation in memoir
