(courtesy: Amazon.com)
Her first publication is, “The Recipe Project”. It’s a cookbook that combines recipes provided by world-renowned chefs and CD music played by a band known as One Ring Zero. I’m fascinated by this combination and wonder how instructions for venison pie might sound. Perhaps I’d hear strains of “Doe a deer, a female deer…?” And for cherries jubilee would I hear “Pomp and Circumstance?”
Frankly, like baked Alaska, I get mixed sensations when I think about this new idea.
Koch’s second book is an even bolder adventure: “Louise: Amended.” It’s a memoir by Louise Krug which describes her slow recovery from a brain trauma. The story is told from several perspectives – that of the patient, the boy friend, and the mother. At any point, a reader may turn to an “e-read” application that extends the story to nine other points of view. Why those perspectives aren’t incorporated directly into the novel is the question. Is the publisher engaging in Art for art’s sake or gimmickry for gimmickry’s sake?
By nature, innovation is iffy. The jury is still out, for example, on whether 3-D enhances or detracts from a film’s experience; so one wonders if e-editions to a book will flame or fizzle. What I did learn from reading the article on Elizabeth Koch’s new venture (“Town & Country,” May 2012) is that if someone’s daddy is rich enough, he or she can explore any harebrained idea without fear of economic failure.
