Mikey Friedman is making books feel less like homework and more like a night out. As founder of PAGE BREAK, he’s reimagining the literary retreat as a story-first, sensory-rich experience that plays like immersive theater. Since launching in March 2024, he’s hosted 12 custom-designed retreats where guests read entire novels aloud, eat book-themed meals and dive deep into the world on the page. PAGE BREAK has garnered rave reviews, scoring a 9.5/10 overall satisfaction rating, a 9.9 Net Promoter Score, and a recent brand collaboration with The North Face. Mikey also created DAY BREAK — a one-day NYC edition built around novellas and tasting menus — and STAGE BREAK, a live reading series where audience members step on stage to read alongside authors. Every event sells out, and his cult following of 12,000 keeps growing, thanks to a model that feels as intimate as it does ambitious.
