Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘London Falling’
The Book Review

Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘London Falling’

B2Upper-intermediateAugust 29, 202654 min
  • Conversation
  • Arts & culture

At the center of Patrick Radden Keefe’s new book, “London Falling,” is a mystery: In 2019, a young man named Zac Brettler disappeared, and a few days later his body was found in the Thames River. Surveillance footage showed what appeared to be Zac jumping off the balcony of a nearby luxury tower, leading some to speculate that he had taken his own life. His family, though, didn’t quite believe that theory; though troubled, Zac, in their view, hadn’t seemed suicidal. Then the Brettlers learn that before his death, Zac had pretended to be the rich son of a Russi...

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B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 38%A2 30%B1 16%B2 14%C1 3%
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  • 178 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
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0:31

Friends, we're back and it's time for Book Club. Hello and welcome to the Book Review from The New York Times. I'm MJ Franklin. I'm an editor here at The New York Times Book Review and the host of

0:46

the Book Review Book Club. And today I'm with Jennifer Salai, our nonfiction book critic here at The New York Times. Hi, Jen.

0:53

Thank you for joining us. Thanks so much for having me. And we're also with Sadie Stein, a fellow editor here at the Book Review and a frequent book clubber. I'm delighted to be here for this one. Thank you for joining us. And this week we are

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