A CHAT WITH THE MAN BEHIND BOOKTALK.

Byline: - David Bloom 

It's about as low tech as high tech gets: Call a number, punch in a few digits and hear top authors talk about their newest books. It's BookTalk, the little feature that runs on the Daily News' Sunday book page and in 33 other papers around the country.

The service itself is simple. Angelenos can call BookTalk at [phone] or [phone] to listen. Every week, papers list codes for up to 25 new books, chosen from a broad smattering of genres, said company founder David Knight, whose office is in Sherman Oaks.

Dial and listen. Simple.

Free, too, unless you're calling long-distance.

And sometimes, there are real nuggets, such as former sportswriter Dan Jenkins (at code 4206) talking about his ``Semi Tough'' quasi-sequel, ``Rude Behavior,'' with protagonist Billy Clyde Puckett now general manager of an expansion football team.

As Jenkins says in his rich Texas drawl, ``the characters are about as politically incorrect as they can be,'' and proves it with a character's great line about marriage.

Though the service tapes a wide variety of authors, well-known writers, especially of fiction, draw the most interest. Just as importantly, Knight said, well-spoken authors really can help their own book's cause.

``Authors who are good speakers without a doubt do better,'' Knight said. ``People will tell their friends to call. If the author has a good voice, we know it will do well.''

Other recent good listens include Richard Preston, whose nonfiction ``The Hot Zone'' briskly detailed the horrors of the ebola virus, talks about the cloak-and-dagger source work he had to do to research his first novel, also about a killer virus, ``The Cobra Event'' (at code 2850).

And Peter Craig's comments about his ballyhooed novel of a severely dysfunctional Hollywood clan led by a fading male movie star, ``The Martini Shot,'' (code 4961) are all the more intriguing for Craig's disclaimers that it's not mere thinly veiled autobiography. Craig's mother is Sally Field, and her longtime beau was Burt Reynolds.

Among others who have attracted a lot of callers over the years are George Plimpton, Amy Tan, ``Galloping Gourmet'' Graham Kerr and former ``Avengers'' star Patrick MacNee, Knight said.

About the toughest recording session was one with Dr. Ruth Westheimer, whose heavy German accent forced five takes, Knight said.

Listeners can go to a specific code, or hit the browse function to listen randomly. The calls are limited to 15 minutes, because Knight found some listeners stayed on so long at night that they fell asleep.

Knight, who describes himself as a ``big book lover,'' said he started the service as a way to tell friends about books he liked. Since then, it has grown and prospered into a busy little business, with 30,000 to 35,000 calls a week around the country.

Now he's considering adding some actual high-tech touches to the service.

Pasadena-based Internet service provider Earthlink Networks, for instance, has cut a deal to give new customers any book on BookTalk in exchange for signing up. And Internet booksellers have been inquiring about incorporating the audio into their sites.

``It's just been a nice little service based in the Valley,'' Knight said. ``I thought there'd be another book line out there, but in all the years since I've been doing it, I've never heard of another.''

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Photo: David Knight says he started the recorded service as a way to tell friends about books he liked.

David R. Crane/Daily News