New York Times-bestselling author Patrick Radden Keefe will be featured at The Peters Township Library Foundation’s seventh annual Novel November event on Nov. 7th!
From the Library: “This entertaining and insightful Q&A-style interview will take place on Nov. 7, followed by questions from the audience and a post-event book signing. Previous featured speakers included Yaa Gyasi, Tim O’Brien, Anna Quindlen, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Andy Weir and V.E. Schwab.
Keefe is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of three New York Times bestsellers: Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks, Empire of Pain (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction), and Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. Say Nothing received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of the decade by Entertainment Weekly, and was number 19 on The New York Times’ list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Say Nothing has been adapted into a limited, nine-episode series premiering on Hulu Nov. 14, while Empire of Pain was one of the inspirations for the 2023 Netflix show, Painkiller.
Keefe’s previous books are The Snakehead and Chatter. His work has been recognized with a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. He is also the creator and host of the eight-part podcast Wind of Change, a story about Cold War espionage and 1980s hair metal.
‘We’re thrilled to have Patrick as our Novel November author this year,’ says Maura Kelly, President of The Peters Township Library Foundation. ‘His work is groundbreaking and meaningful. He isn’t afraid to take on difficult topics and tell stories that we may have forgotten but shouldn’t ignore.’
Tickets are available at ptlib.org/patrickraddenkeefe. Adult general admission tickets are $30, and student tickets are $5. A limited number of VIP tickets will be available for $75, which include a reception with music and light refreshments from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. in the Peters Township High School cafeteria. VIP ticket holders will receive their choice of Rogues, Empire of Pain or Say Nothing (as supplies last) and attend a pre-event book signing by Keefe. Local, independent bookseller Riverstone Books will sell Keefe’s books before and after the program.”
Tickets To help spread the word about Novel November, Littsburgh was excited to ask Keefe some of our most burning questions about Pittsburgh, the New Yorker Cartoon caption contest, and Cold War metal!
Michael Chabon’s first novel.
If you had to pick a grift or a con to pull, what would it be?
Convince restaurants that I am actually a restaurant feared critic from the New York Times.
What books are on your nightstand?
Too many books to count, mostly novels. The top of the pile is Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner.
Which rogue or rascal would you most like to see get the biopic treatment?
The art dealer Larry Gagosian.
What’s your favorite part about being a staff writer at the New Yorker?
Being a professional dilettante.
Related: Do you have a favorite New Yorker cartoon?
The guy on the phone saying, “No… Tuesday’s not good for me. How about never? Would never be good for you?”
Related: Have you ever entered the New Yorker cartoon caption contest?
I never have! But there’s a joke inside the magazine that if you add the caption, “Christ, what an a$$hole,” it works for about 80% of the cartoons.
Any Cold-War era heavy metal bands we should be listening to?
I really love the Russian band Kino. They were underground, it was basically illegal for them to perform, so they played concerts in people’s homes.
Who would you most want to share a plate of pierogis with?
Well my wife was born in Poland, so we are a big pierogi family, and she’s still the best date.
Don’t miss out: Tickets to the Peters Township Library Foundation’s seventh annual Novel November (on November 7th) are now available!
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