Episode · The Book Review · 2026-04-10
Patrick Radden Keefe on The Book Review: books mentioned (Apr 2026)
Patrick Radden Keefe on the Mystery at the Center of ‘London Falling’
Gilbert Cruz discussed London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe and Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon. Patrick Radden Keefe recommended The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud, Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt and others, and discussed Middlemarch by George Eliot and The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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London Falling
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe is a true-crime narrative and investigative work by the acclaimed New Yorker reporter.
Discussed“His new book, London Falling, is out now.”
Where to get it
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Far From the Tree
Andrew Solomon's Far From the Tree is a comprehensive non-fiction exploration of how parents and children who are significantly different from each other navigate their relationships.
Discussed“Um I've never read Andrew Solomon's Far from the Tree. It's quite a tome. it. It's incredible book. It's supposed to be it's supposed to be a great book, classic piece of non-fiction.”
Where to get it
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The Emperor's Children
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud is a sharp social novel that chronicles the lives of three ambitious young cousins navigating career, romance, and intellectual pretension in pre-9/11 New York City.
Recommended“The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud which is a novel I read when it came out and I revisit every few years.”
Where to get it
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Out of Sheer Rage
Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer is a biographical and critical study exploring the author's frustrating attempts to write a book about D.
Recommended“And when I was halfway through Eileen gave me out of sheer rage by Geoff Dyer. Which is a great book that I'd recommend to anybody”
Where to get it
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Middlemarch
Middlemarch by George Eliot is widely celebrated as a masterwork of Victorian literature, chronicling the lives and aspirations of provincial society in the fictional town of Middlemarch.
Discussed“It's Middlemarch, which I'd never read.”
Where to get it
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In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a foundational true-crime masterpiece that details the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in Kansas and the subsequent capture of the killers.
Recommended“In Cold Blood is a book I go back to quite a bit.”
Where to get it
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The Power Broker
The Power Broker by Robert A.
Discussed“I did read The Power Broker cover to cover when I was young when I actually was in college”
Where to get it
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Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow is a legal thriller centering on a prosecutor accused of murdering his colleague.
Recommended“I really love Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow's first novel. Wow. Incredible book.”
Where to get it
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The Secret History
The Secret History by Donna Tartt is a gripping psychological thriller following a tightly knit circle of eccentric classics students at an elite New England college whose intellectual arrogance leads to moral decay and murder.
Recommended“I love uh The Secret History by Donna Tartt. And And funnily my It's one of the best.”
Where to get it
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The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt is a critically acclaimed and inventive novel that follows a single mother raising a precocious young boy in Tokyo as he becomes obsessed with Akira Kurosawa's film.
Recommended“The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt. A really good reader.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“He is also the author of several best-selling non-fiction books including Say Nothing.”
“Uh Patrick, thank you so much for joining The Book Review to talk about your new book, London Falling.”