David Byrne Announces Audiobook Version of his Bicycle Diaries

Here is info we were sent along with a message from David: Offered exclusively at www.bicycle-diaries.com , this new edition is narrated by Byrne and features music (by Byrne) and location sounds to create an atmosphere more akin to a radio show than a simple reading of the book. Presented in podcast-style downloads, the listener will have a choice to purchase individual chapters or the complete book. The introductory chapter will be free. In addition to the audio version, the paperback and a modified e- book edition with color images not included in the hardcover edition will be released on the same day."

Since the early 1980s Byrne has chosen a bicycle as his primary form of transportation both at home in New York City and while on tour throughout the world. Initially drawn to cycling by the convenience and sense of liberation it affords, Byrne found that it also provided him with a varied perspective�faster than a walk, slower than a train, often slightly higher than a person. Byrne began keeping a journal of his observations and insights in every new town he rode through, viewing cities as physical manifestations of our deepest beliefs and often unconscious thoughts. Bicycle Diaries presents these collected accounts.

Part travelogue, part journal and part photo album, Bicycle Diaries chronicles what Byrne sees and whom he meets as he pedals through metropolises ranging from Berlin to Buenos Aires, Istanbul to San Francisco, Manila to New York. The collection includes records Byrne's thoughts on world music, urban planning, fashion, architecture, cultural dislocation and more.

You Are There: After this book came out in hardback about a year ago, I wondered to myself, what if the audiobook for this project was more like a cross between a podcast and a radio show instead of the usual author or actor reading in silence? I was thinking about the kind of radio show that NPR stations do from time to time, with background music, street sounds and other ambiences that help put the listener in the picture. So, I did one chapter (New York) as a test, with me reading, and though it took a lot longer to assemble than I expected, I felt it did indeed do what I imagined it could; when you heard the tinkle of glasses and silverware during a restaurant "scene," boom!�you immediately felt you were there. Your mind fills in the details and these little sound cues help paint a fuller picture. If only I could have added smell! When the text went off on one of many tangents, and I began ruminating about a subject off the beaten path, a little bit of music I happened to have available helped tell you, the listener, that, yes, we've left the "story" temporarily, but will return soon. It started as an experiment and then turned into a complete DIY project, with the Hendler Brothers keeping the ball rolling.

I also realized that this particular book could be consumed in any order, and it didn't matter which chapter you started with. So one could download and listen to the chapters as individual podcasts, in any sequence. I could even make the chapters available to download separately�you wouldn't need to buy the whole audiobook to see if you liked the experience. This all would have been impossible if these were made available only via CD (or cassette!)�or with many other types of books.

Technology had, it seemed, created an opportunity for a whole new format to come into being. I'm not sure anything exactly like this has ever been done before. Sure, there are NPR radio shows with sound effects (Joe Frank comes to mind) as well as ye olde radio dramas (The Shadow was one), but if there's anything similar out there I'm unaware of it. And yes, there are loads of downloadable audiobooks�but you have to consume the chapters in the prescribed order, unless you are into self created meta fiction.