Molly Brodak (1980–2020)
Author of Bandit: A Daughter's Memoir
About the Author
Molly Brodak was born in Michigan on March 29, 1980. She was a poet, writer, and baker. For a time, she was also a lecturer in English and humanities at Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia. Her poetry collection, A Little Middle of the Night, was published in 2010 and won the Iowa Poetry show more Prize. Her next poetry collection, The Cipher, is due to be published in October 2020. Her work has appeared in Granta, Guernica, Poetry, the Colorado Review, FIELD, Ninth Letter, the Journal, the Northwest Review, the Laurel Review, the New Orleans Review, the Hayden's Ferry Review, and in other media. She wrote a memoir entitled, Bandit: A Daughter's Memoir, in which she talked about life with her father, a compulsive liar and bank robber.Her talent as a baker was seen when she appeared on ABC's The Great American Baking Show in 2019. She went on to start a home baking business, Kookie House.Molly Brodak died on March 8, 2020 at the age of 39. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Molly Brodak
The Flood 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Brodak, Molly Aviva
- Birthdate
- 1980-03-29
- Date of death
- 2020-03-08
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Place of death
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Places of residence
- Rochester, Michigan, USA
- Education
- West Virginia University (MA - Creative Writing)
Oakland University (BA) - Occupations
- poet
memoirist
creative writing teacher
baker - Relationships
- Butler, Blake (husband)
- Organizations
- Emory University
Augusta State University
Savannah College of Art and Design
Georgia College and State University
Members
Reviews
Sad to just now be discovering Brodak's work posthumously and also that her poetry is out of print. This memoir was heartbreaking on many levels.
What a fun Father's Day read!
Recommended by Phoebe Judge on her podcast Criminal, Molly Brodak's Bandit is memoir about fathers and daughters, family secrets, and single-parent homes.
Brodak's father, Joe, was a larger-than-life figure in their blue-collar Michigan community, the son of Polish immigrants who was born in a Nazi refugee camp, and then came to the United States as a child. Brodak tells her readers that she did not know much about her father's upbringing when she herself was a child, but discovered this story when writing to family members in order to gather material for her book. In fact, Brodak did not know much at all about her father. Throughout her childhood, he hid a serious gambling addiction from his family, an addiction that resulted in massive debts that led him to rob eleven banks. This book is a result of Brodak's search for answers about who her father really was and what motivated him to rob all those banks back in the 90s, and then rob another bank when he was released from prison.
This moving family memoir made a perfect Father's Day read.… (more)
Recommended by Phoebe Judge on her podcast Criminal, Molly Brodak's Bandit is memoir about fathers and daughters, family secrets, and single-parent homes.
Brodak's father, Joe, was a larger-than-life figure in their blue-collar Michigan community, the son of Polish immigrants who was born in a Nazi refugee camp, and then came to the United States as a child. Brodak tells her readers that she did not know much about her father's upbringing when she herself was a child, but discovered this story when writing to family members in order to gather material for her book. In fact, Brodak did not know much at all about her father. Throughout her childhood, he hid a serious gambling addiction from his family, an addiction that resulted in massive debts that led him to rob eleven banks. This book is a result of Brodak's search for answers about who her father really was and what motivated him to rob all those banks back in the 90s, and then rob another bank when he was released from prison.
This moving family memoir made a perfect Father's Day read.… (more)
A very hearfelt poetic account of a rocky, damaged father/daughter relationship. I sometimes get very tired of reading yet another memoir of a disfunctional family but I had heard the author interviewed on MPR and was curious about the book. A title to be appreciated by a reader who knows the wild ride that is addictive behavior. Pretty rambley at the end, read quickly through the first 2/3rds. No conclusions here, to happy endings, the road goes on.
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 92
- Popularity
- #202,476
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 5
- ISBNs
- 13
- Languages
- 1
That is what this book is about, how Molly got through her childhood knowing that something was 'wrong", that her father could lie to everyone straight-faced & then smile afterwards....
It describes growing up, her parents relationship, her relationship (or lack-thereof) with her sister & her parents.
It was very interesting and a highly compelling read that I could not put down except to finally sleep @ 2:00 am.
Other than the bank-robbing, she described my sibling to a T.
Only two chapters towards the end gave me problems, where she wrote to explain his predilection for questionable actions. Maybe she was just attempting to put it all into writing for herself to better understand.
Her writing is lyrical & hypnotizing at the same time honest and poignant.... All in all, very well written.… (more)