Posted on December 3, 2021 at 2:07 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Patrick Radden Keefe recently won the Baillie Gifford Prize for his book on the history and legacy of Purdue Pharma.

And that book, Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, was shortlisted for another British award, the FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year.

It didn’t take the grand prize, but Keefe’s reporting from the ceremony might be the show-stealer after all.

The ceremony was held in London’s National Gallery, which includes the Sackler Gallery — named after, of course, the same family in his book's title.

But that wasn’t all.

Keefe noted that McKinsey Consulting — the same one in the book award’s name — actively advised the Sackler family and Purdue.

So, he said, he would donate his entire shortlist prize of £10,000 ($13,200) to Odyssey House, an organization that helps New Yorkers in need overcome drug and alcohol abuse.

Keefe’s full thread, in which he emphasizes that he doesn’t believe McKinsey played any role in where his book finished, is worth a trip to Twitter.

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Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Awards, Charity, Nonfiction

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