The Thread Hour: Authors Molly Brodak and Paul Auster

The Thread Hour features interviews with authors, booksellers, librarians and avid readers.

In our debut episode, MPR News host Kerri Miller interviewed Molly Brodak about her memoir, "Bandit."

It's the story of Brodak's complicated relationship with her father, a gambling addict who turned to robbing banks to feed his habit. He robbed more than ten banks while she was in middle school.

"As a fan of heist stories — both in books and movies — I was eager to dive into the real, hard truths of the lives of bank robbers. Brodak's memoir offers a little-seen perspective on this," Miller said. "And unlike how many memoirs about parental relationships end in either love or hate, Brodak's is willing to explore the gray area between."

Also in this episode, MPR News reporter Euan Kerr interviews Paul Auster about his latest novel, "4 3 2 1."

"While it's always a draw to talk to one of the nation's leading writers, talking to Paul Auster has the added attraction of being married to another of the great modern writers, critics, and Minnesota native, Siri Hustvedt. Auster was generous in describing how and why he put together the four different possible narratives of a single person's life in '4 3 2 1,'" Kerr said. "He was also generous in describing the way which he and Hustvedt write every day at opposite ends of their house and then join together at dinner to talk about how their writing is going. He described how they are each other's first readers and editors. It was a unique insight into a creative mind making up half a literary dynamic duo."

To listen to the full conversations, use the audio player above.

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