A life in books

"A Life In Books is an illuminated novel containing 101 books within it, all written by Lehrer's protagonist, author Bleu Mobley, who finds himself in prison looking back on his life and career. Mobley's autobiography/apologia is paired with a review of all 101 of his books. Each book is represented by its first-edition cover design and catalogue copy, and more than a third of his books are excerpted. The resulting retrospective contrasts the published writings (which read like short stories) with the author's confessional memoir, forming a most unusual portrait of a well-intentioned, obsessively inventive (but ethically challenged) visionary."--Publisher description.