Patrick Radden Keefe’s books read the way I like non-fiction to read: like fiction. True of London Falling, too, where we follow the life and death of Zac Brettler and the web of people wrapped up in his mysterious death. It’s an astonishing read for the depth of the research (reporting? I’m not sure the difference) and the way Keefe manages to bring depth in history/biography to full families in ways that make the subsequent choices these people make feel consequential and reaching.
I don’t want to give too much away because it is something of a mystery in its unfolding, but I’ll say that there are a few spots where the characters get a bit thick in their backstory and you have to Pay Attention, as well as some moments where I lost a bit of the sharper focus on the way Brettler’s death was meant to be both particular and standing in for the whole (synecdoche, right?) and instead got lost in the weeds of his very particular – and poignant – story.
Strong recommend on this one – enjoy (as much as you can the story of a dead 19 year old).
Literary Vice 