On March 17 memoirist Mike Edison and wine writer David Lynch will team up with restaurateur Joe Bastianich for a twist on the traditional book event: a Led Zeppelin wine pairing.
Held at Becco in Manhattan, the evening will explore the band’s music along with wine, food, and commentary from the writers. Tickets cost $175, and the festivities start at 7:30. GalleyCat caught up with Edison for more: “When my memoir first came out I also released a new kind of spoken word record–not an audio book, but a psychedelic X-rated punk rock, beatnik deconstruction and explosion of my work,” he explained.
“A lot of people had trouble connecting the dots between this static object, a book, and this crazy record and live show, that to me was just another way of telling my story, of getting people interested, and most importantly, creating a relationship with the reader. I think that is the key for publishing, or anything marketable, for that matter–finding new entry points for a potential audience, and then fostering that relationship.”
He continued: “Either you see this as a hyper-intellectual exercise in promoting the lexicon of oenology as a valid critical system while simultaneously subverting it and subjecting it to ridicule–or you think it is just some dudes who want to drink some really good wine and listen to Led Zeppelin. No matter what, it is still going be the best salon since Dorothy Parker made that crack about horticulture. I imagine the discussion is going to get plenty heated by the time we spin ‘Kashmir.’ And everyone who comes to the tasting is leaving with a book.”
Edison also imagined what could happen if the evening’s wine/music/book mix was actually published as a reference book: “It could be the greatest reference book of all time! My personal goal is to bring this show to Vegas–Joe is talking about getting a live Zep cover band–and doing it seven nights a week. I could move into the hotel and write the movie version in the afternoons by the pool while I sober up.”