Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars | 1,904 ratings

Price: 19.69

Last update: 08-26-2024


About this item

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the award-winning author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing—and one of the most decorated journalists of our time—twelve enthralling true stories of skulduggery and intrigue

"An excellent collection of Keefe's detective work, and a fine introduction to his illuminating writing."—NPR

“Fast-paced...Keefe is a virtuoso storyteller."—The Washington Post

Patrick Radden Keefe has garnered prizes ranging from the National Magazine Award to the Orwell Prize to the National Book Critics Circle Award for his meticulously-reported, hypnotically-engaging work on the many ways people behave badly. Rogues brings together a dozen of his most celebrated articles from The New Yorker. As Keefe says in his preface “They reflect on some of my abiding preoccupations: crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial.”

Keefe brilliantly 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,” among other bravura works of literary journalism.

The appearance of his byline in The New Yorker is always an event, and collected here for the first time listeners can see his work forms an always enthralling but deeply human portrait of criminals and rascals, as well as those who stand up against them.


Top reviews from the United States

Michael P. Williams, Esq.
5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious! Phenomenal!
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2022
This is the third book I've purchased and read authored by Patrick Radden Keefe.; all of them so markedly different; all so all uniformly PHENOMENAL.

This book -- I don't believe it's a "stroll down PRK's Memory Lane," or something to the effect of "PRK's "greatest hits" (there's an unintended 'double entendre!'); he and his teams chose wisely as they beautifully constructed a book about lawbreakers/law enforcement/drug manufacturers/drug users/$$$moneyMoneyMONEY$$$...truly a book about Rogues, Charlatans, etc. Gripping, fascinating, scary, heartwarming and heart-rendering, exciting, minutely detailed, with absolutely incredible reporting and writing.

If you've read this far, please check out my review of PRK's "Empire of Pain.". This book, extremely important in numerous ways, is so much different than " Rogues;' it's a book I would hope EVERY inhabitant of this planet should/would read. It's that brilliant, it's that important, it's a book (like, for example, Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs & Steel" which, in a larger context, explains in detail how the world works - and how it doesn't work). All while weaving a factual, nonfiction tapestry which deliciously reads like a Miss Marple mystery; "Rogues" decidedly works on so many levels...

Now, this is not to say that "Rogues" is a "summer beach book;" it can be, and, perhaps PRK would argue, justly, that it's the type of "summer beach books" you'd want to read (remember, "Rogues," "Scoundrels" and "Grifters!" Oh My!) -- the stuff is plenty juicy... Just don't 'turn off your brain' -- not that it's a 'Webster's in one hand, "Guns, Germs & Steel" in the other type of book (again, I hope that somehow, every person on earth should read "Guns, Germs & Steel;" part of the enjoyment comes from learning FACTUAL info about how humankind got its start...and what followed...but a dictionary is an invaluable and most necessary resource when reading it); "Rogues" is a book with fleshed out and fleshy characters...a lot like "Casablanca," actually! The difference is that these folks are real, the facts around them are real, their actions are real, and many come with consequences that affect EVERYONE on our planet, directly or indirectly.

PRK, if, for whatever reason you agree or disagree with my review/characterizations, let's chat...
Christian Josi
4.0 out of 5 stars Riveting Anthology of Great Old-School Style Longform Magazine Essays
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2022
It's hard to say anything that hasn’t already been said about this book, a compilation of twelve extraordinary New Yorker essays from Patrick Radden Keefe about some of the more colorful characters and stories of our time. After all, the book has sucked up an awful lot of oxygen in the literary room since its release in June of this year. It is the very definition of blockbuster and deservedly so.

One thing that does strike me is that is can be easy to to view "Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks" as a book all about bad people. While bad people certainly factor in, several of the essays are actually stories of good people who've nailed bad people. Others, per the word “Rebels" that’s kind of hidden in the title, are decidedly not bad folks, just different thinkers, such as Mark Burnett and Anthony Bourdain. Not a huge deal, just something that's occurred to me.

The larger thing that strikes me, however, and what really draws me to weigh in on a type of book I tend to leave to others, is what it is made of--and that is the great, old-school long form essay traditionally crafted by great writers for great magazines which when combined under one theme make for such excellent books. Joseph Mitchell's "Up in the Old Hotel" -- another anthology of New Yorker essays which came out in 1992 -- is a great example of this and if you've not read it, you must.

Of course The New Yorker, where again the essays that make up "Rogues" originally appeared, is as strong and reliable as ever in that area, but with few occasional exceptions, it begins and ends there nowadays. And this is tragic. So if by expressing my delight in Keefe's great work I can flag this unfortunate truth and perhaps make some people think about it, then this time and energy of mine was well spent indeed.
BlueWrit
5.0 out of 5 stars Great selection of character profiles. Non-fiction.
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024
Great writer with terrific grasp and control of material. Some of these portraits just make you sigh. If only…..
Amy Hawley
3.0 out of 5 stars Unusual Short Stories About Real Rogues
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024
Some of the stories were interesting and some were somewhat Grim. Well written stories about some people who were on the wrong side of the law.
DMV mom
5.0 out of 5 stars Karma lives and Thrives!
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2024
As a long time New Yorker subscriber I had read most of these as they appeared, PRK has a great organizational style, and reading some of these again in a curated collection makes me appreciate his perspective all the more. My favorite story is that of the Thomas Jefferson wine bottles! They were wine bottles and not Thomas Jefferson’s bottles of wine. Both the con man and the tumid Mr Koch are flawlessly described and developed.
Great collection from PRK. Thank you for making these essays accessible and so informative!
Kenh
4.0 out of 5 stars Loved the diversity...but not all the stories
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2022
Very well written and easy to read. With such diverse story lines I just found some of the stories not my cup of tee. But, all in all, well written and interesting.
Weagle
5.0 out of 5 stars No theme necessary to headline this terrific collection of in-depth stories
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2022
As PRK says in the forward, in-depth articles can take the better part of a year to research and write. These twelve articles may have previously been published, but unless you caught them in the New Yorker you will find each story an absorbing piece of investigative journalism. Although he collects them under the title “Rogues,” I don’t think you need a theme. They’re all fascinating, well-researched, and insightful. The story on Mark Burnett, the man behind The Apprentice television show is particularly interesting in a “look what he wrought” kind of way.
Jody
4.0 out of 5 stars dense
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2023
The only chapter in this book I enjoyed was the last, on Anthony Bourdain. Probably sentimental on my part, I’m willing to own that. The rest of the book I can’t really review, as the other tales were too dense for me. It seems I’m a lazy reader.

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