At 14-years-old Paul Auster witnessed a boy next to him struck down dead by lightning during a thunderstorm.

The American author said it changed his life forever - he thinks about it every day and it never goes away. It highlighted for him how in the blink of an eye the whole world could change.

Talking Booksreflects contemporary America through the perspectives of some of the country's biggest writers. The interview with Paul Auster can be seen on BBC World News TV on Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 October.