Book Review- Patrick Radden Keefe's Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

Thank you to LibroFM and Penguin Random House Audio for providing me with an audio copy of Patrick Radden Keefe’s Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks.

Rogues is a collection of Keefe’s prize-winning essays from The New Yorker. As the subtitle indicates, the subjects in the collection vary, but are tied together with the commonality of existing on the fringes of society. All twelve essays are fascinating and worth reading, but personally, I was especially captivated by two of the essays.

The first standout was Keefe’s reporting on a criminal trial in Amsterdam, in which a sister testified against her mobster brother and is now living in hiding. Keefe traveled to Amsterdam and met with the sister, Astrid Holleeder, in a very tense and secretive situation, as although her brother is behind bars, she lives in fear of reprisal from his associates. She explained the fears of growing up with a psychopath brother and of the criminal element in Amsterdam, which is well hidden in the beautiful city that she loves. What struck me most about this article was the way in which Keefe wrote about Holleeder’s strength and defiance. She refuses to leave Amsterdam, even if she must live a secluded life. She stood up to her brother, even when the profits from his criminal enterprise helped fund the family, a situation in which many family members were happy to turn a blind-eye. Holleeder put everything in her life at risk to do the right thing.

The other story involved Anthony Bourdain. I had not previously heard of Holleeder or the situation in Amsterdam, but I was very familiar with Bourdain. The familiarity is what attracted me to Keefe’s thoughts on the deceased chef, writer and travel star. Bourdain’s eclectic career and brash attitude put him in squarely in the rebel category and make his life intriguing to outsiders. Keefe’s article gave me a taste and I wanted more, so I picked up Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential to read following Rogues.

If you love non-fiction that explores dynamic personalities and true crime, you must pick up a copy of Rogues. Keefe is a keen storyteller with a flair for the dramatic. His writing will take you to unexpected places.

Book Review: Anna Sale's Let's Talk About Hard Things

Thank you to LibroFM and Simon & Schuster Audio for an audio copy of Anna Sale’s Let’s Talk About Hard Things.

Let’s Talk About Hard Things is an extension of Sale’s popular podcast, Death, Sex, and Money. I’m a huge fan of her podcast and was very excited for this memoir. Sale breaks Let’s Talk About Hard Things into sections: death, sex, money, family and identity. Similar to her podcast, Sale weaves stories from her personal life with interviews and statistics to explore each topic.

The magic of Sale is how she manages to make difficult topics accessible. She reminds her audience that these are unavoidable topics and topics that are made easier when we realize that they affect us all. While it may be difficult to have financial or end of life conversations with our loved ones, Sale opens the door to the way in which we may broach these subjects and gives us examples of other people having these brave discussions. It gives us courage to take the same actions in our own lives and also makes us feel less alone.

Let’s Talk About Hard Things and Death, Sex, and Money are both excellent tools that can help anyone at any stage in life. Last year, I discovered a wonderful TedTalk by author Donna Jo Napoli, where she explains that stories prepare people for events that may occur in their lives and that through experiencing stories, we can imagine scenarios that perhaps could happen to us. I think this is the power of Sale’s work. You might not have had an illness or been a caretaker, yet by reading these sections, you can think about how a similar scenario could impact you in the future, in turn preparing you. You might not identify as LGBTQ, yet reading these sections of Sale’s book and hearing the stories of others, opens the door for listening and empathizing.

I highly recommend Let’s Talk About Hard Things. It’s filled with encouraging true stories on vital topics. The audio book, narrated by Sale, is fantastic, but I also plan to purchase hardcover versions to give as gifts. I can’t imagine a person who wouldn’t benefit from this book.