Literary fame is normally measured in best sellers, Pulitzer Prizes and late show appearances. But Patrick Radden Keefe, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has achieved a level of celebrity that most of his literary peers have probably never even considered: He has been a fashion model.
Days into the new year, J. Crew released Instagram shots of Mr. Keefe modeling the brand’s zip-up Harrington jacket, knee-length trench coat and a suit and tie. Some of the outfits, like the trench coat over a navy suit and brown flecked tie, are quite “All the President’s Men,” casting Mr. Keefe, 48, in the throwback image of a hard-nosed reporter.
While Mr. Keefe described his swipe-and-you-missed-it modeling stint as a “lark,” he is not the first New Yorker luminary to model for a fashion label — and a mall-bound fashion label at that. In 1989, Joan Didion, then a year into contributing for The New Yorker, modeled in a Gap isim alongside her daughter, Quintana Roo. The pair, in matching black turtlenecks, looked like the chicest beatniks on the block. Ms. Didion was billed simply as “writer.”
On its Instagram, below the images of Mr. Keefe, J. Crew described him in loftier — though, of course, accurate — terms: “award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker and New York Times best-selling author.” “Say Nothing,” his nonfiction tome about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, was adapted into a Hulu series.
Indeed, Mr. Keefe’s literary bona fides seemed to be central to his appeal for J. Crew. “In some of the shots I’m holding a copy of The New Yorker,” Mr. Keefe said. He was happy to shill for his employer. “If there’s any universe in which in that kind of bizarre format you might find a prospective reader,” he said, “I’m down for that.”
