They said it couldn’t be done. The said you couldn’t make an audio book that wasn’t a droning, sleep-induce, boring, week-long string of drivel.
So Zach Plague took the challenge. To make it extra difficult for himself he choose a book entitled boring boring boring boring boring boring boring. His own book. And then turned it into a music/spoken word audio mash-up.
In collaboration with Flameshovel Records, Chicago-based featherproof books is pleased to present an incredible collision of music and literary worlds through a inventive new novel on CD. When an indie music label joins forces with an indie publisher sparks are bound to fly. While the publishing world wonders what a book can be in this digital age, Zach Plague has proven that it can be whatever he pleases—for example, a full length album, with songlength tracks crammed with music, sound effects, and the craziest voices we could find.
All the narration is backed with music from the likes of Dark Yellow, Michael Hoff, Seymore Saves the World, the Pawners’ Society, and even Zach himself. In addition, musicians like James Kennedy (Brilliant Pebbles), John Huston (Pawners’ Society, Dark Yellow), and Sam Axelrod (ex-Narrator, The End of the World) lend their voices to the characters of Ollister, The Platypus, and Punk, respectively. They are joined by actors like Cynthia Castiglione and Seth Dodson, featherproof co-publisher Jonathan Messinger, and even an actual art school student, Elspeth Vance.
The story follows the misadventures of a disaffected group of art students. When the mysterious gray book that drives Ollister and Adelaide’s relationship goes missing, the two ex-lovers lose their post-modern marbles. He plots revenge against art patriarch The Platypus, while she obsesses over their anti-love affair. Meanwhile, other art school hipsters experiment with bad drugs, bad sex, and bad ideas. When a punk named Punk shows up with the all-important gray book, the whole crowd gets caught up in the gravitational pull of The Platypus’ sinister White Ball, where a confused art terrorism cell threatens a ludicrous and hilarious implosion. With an unerring, unflinching eye for satire, Zach Plague’s brilliant hybrids of music, voice, and sound, skewer the art world and those boring enough to fall into its traps.
Taking true advantage of the new plugged-in world, the book’s content has been expanded into every media imaginable.
Let’s go down the list:
• A poster series, which includes the full text of the book, that can be hung on a wall, plastered on street corners, or
folded down and read, just like the featherproof mini-books.
• A dynamic, fully readable online version (zachplague.com).
• Free downloadable eBooks, mini-books, and audio excerpts.
• The music/spoken word audio mash-up, as above.
• Not to mention the perfect-bound version, a work of art in its own right.
We couldn’t be more excited to announce that advance CDs are yours for the taking. Review copies of the book and the poster series are also available upon request, and Zach Plague is available for interviews. Keep an eye out for his tour dates across the country this summer and fall. We hope you’ll consider this debut from one of the strangest, most
inventive minds on tape.
