Scene Last Night: James Frey, Salman Rushdie at Booktrack Bash
Reading isn’t considered polite at a party, but the hosts encouraged it at last night’s launch event for Booktrack, which makes electronic books with soundtracks.
On the fourth floor of Yotel, in midtown Manhattan, Chief Executive Paul Cameron and four models wearing neon-pink wigs and little black dresses stood before an array of headphones and iPads set up with Booktrack editions.
I got through the first page and spacey ambient music of a young-adult science-fiction novel called “The Power of Six” by Pittacus Lore.
Then Cameron switched me to a chapter in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- the Adventure of the Speckled Band.”
Over the loud music of the party, I made out some popping sounds.
“It’s the fireplace in the study!” I sleuthed.
Others tested the product in the lounges. These were glass- enclosed rooms equipped with a stocked bar, large bowls of chocolate-covered pretzels and male models as hosts. Groups could read Booktrack editions on large television screens.
Literary agent Helene Brenkman said she was skeptical.
“What if you hear an explosion before you get to that paragraph? The surprise would be spoiled,” Brenkman said.
Cameron said the product measures your reading speed so that the right sounds arrive at the right time. For slow readers, the ambient music loops. Sound effects are pegged to specific words or groups of words, he said.
As the sun set, guests filled the expansive outdoor terrace for great views of the skyscrapers in Times Square.
“I read actual books,” said Paul Haggis, screenwriter and director of “Crash.” He has spent the summer reading “Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War,” by Karl Marlantes.
Rushdie With Sound
Salman Rushdie said he had listened to some of the soundtrack for “In the South,” a short story originally published in the New Yorker magazine. It will be available on Booktrack this fall.
“It’s about two old men in south India, on the edge of death. They are very close friends. It’s funny and sad,” he said.
James Frey said he uses music when he writes to get him in the right mood. “If I want to feel rage, I listen to heavy metal,” Frey said. “If I want to feel romantic, I listen to Mozart or love songs from the ‘80s.”
Frey’s company, Full Fathom Five, launched the young-adult series by Pittacus Lore, and Frey stars with the model Petra Nemcova in a short promotional video promoting Booktrack.
(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net or on Twitter at @amandagordon.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
A model demonstrates Booktrack to Amanda Ross, a stylist.
A model demonstrates Booktrack to Amanda Ross, a stylist. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Brooke Geahan, Booktrack's vice president of publishing, with Eve Atterman and Britton Schey, who work in digital rights in the book department of WME, a talent and literary agency.
Brooke Geahan, Booktrack's vice president of publishing, with Eve Atterman and Britton Schey, who work in digital rights in the book department of WME, a talent and literary agency. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Paul Cameron, president and co-founder, Booktrack; Mark Cameron, a director and co-founder, Booktrack; and Derek Handley, chairman, Booktrack. The Camerons are brothers.
Paul Cameron, president and co-founder, Booktrack; Mark Cameron, a director and co-founder, Booktrack; and Derek Handley, chairman, Booktrack. The Camerons are brothers. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Dhiraj Kumar, mobile strategist, Facebook, Deborah D'Arcy and Mark D'Arcy, director, global credit solutions, Facebook.
Dhiraj Kumar, mobile strategist, Facebook, Deborah D'Arcy and Mark D'Arcy, director, global credit solutions, Facebook. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Salman Rushdie, writer, and Tannaz Hazemi, a model-turned-filmmaker.
Salman Rushdie, writer, and Tannaz Hazemi, a model-turned-filmmaker. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Paul Haggis, screenwriter, producer and director, and Ann Dexter-Jones, a writer.
Paul Haggis, screenwriter, producer and director, and Ann Dexter-Jones, a writer. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Booktrack Launch Party
James Frey, Rose Degan and Will Cotton. Cotton said he is doing the costumes and set design for a performance of dancing cotton candy to debut on November 18 at the National Arts Club.
James Frey, Rose Degan and Will Cotton. Cotton said he is doing the costumes and set design for a performance of dancing cotton candy to debut on November 18 at the National Arts Club.
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Alessandra Brawn, public relations manager at Kiki de Montparnasse.
Alessandra Brawn, public relations manager at Kiki de Montparnasse. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Booktrack Launch Party
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Jennifer Murray, clothing designer, holding a purse she made.
Jennifer Murray, clothing designer, holding a purse she made. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Rate this Page
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.