The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is back for its 25th season. Join us at the Fitzgerald Theater for four special events with renowned authors, celebrating our anniversary with a special $25 ticket price for MPR members and Star Tribune subscribers. Buy tickets here.

June 4, 2003 11:20 AM

Erica Jong

Erica Jong talks about her new novel, set in ancient Greece and inspired by the woman considered to be one of the world's great poets.

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May 29, 2003 5:29 PM

Getting Mother's Body

Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks is now a novelist. Set in 1963, Parks' novel "Getting Mother's Body" tells the story of Billy Beede, a 16-year-old pregnant orphan living with her aunt and uncle in West Texas. Legend has it her mother was buried in Arizona with enough jewelry to solve everyone's financial problems. Some of Billy's relatives want to go get the treasure, but she's not so sure.

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May 26, 2003 11:20 AM

Revealed family histories

A rebroadcast of Katherine Lanpher's conversation with author Jonathan Safran Foer, whose debut novel lit up the book world last year.

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May 26, 2003 10:20 AM

Paul Theroux's travels across Africa

A rebrodacast of Katherine Lanpher's conversation with author Paul Theroux. His new book is an account of his journey across Africa, where he talks with people struggling with drought, corruption and poverty.

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May 21, 2003 5:41 PM

Haunted Ground

Two Irish brothers are out in a bog cutting turf for a fire. One of the brothers swings his shovel and makes a grisly discovery: the perfectly preserved head of a red-haired woman. Because peat bogs prevent decay, the head could have been buried for centuries, or she could be a new homicide. That is the opening scene of Minneapolis writer Erin Hart's new book "Haunted Ground."

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May 21, 2003 11:20 AM

Calvin Trillin

Writer Calvin Trillin searched the world for the most authentic and least fussy regional food. He visits Midmorning to talk about his new book and what it takes to eat the way the locals do.

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May 16, 2003 11:20 AM

Christopher Paul Curtis on Talking Volumes

On Saturday, award-winning author Christopher Paul Curtis will be the guest at the Saint Paul Reads One Book event. His book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 is the 2003 selection. In January, Curtis talked with Katherine Lanpher about Bud, Not Buddy at the Fitzgerald Theater. A rebroadcast of Talking Volumes.

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May 9, 2003 11:20 AM

Talking Volumes, Margaret Atwood

Rebroadcast of Thursday night's Talking Volumes event. Katherine Lanpher talks with best-selling author Margaret Atwood about "The Handmaid's Tale".

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April 24, 2003 11:20 AM

Inspiring boys to read

Boys read differently than girls, says children's author John Scieszka, and the difference can mean lower scores on writing and reading tests.

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April 22, 2003 11:20 AM

Past departures

A journey to find ancestors leads to an inventive novel. Jonathan Safran Foer writes of a search for family truths amid destruction in the Ukraine.

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