A LIFE IN BOOKS: The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley is
an illuminated novel containing 101 books within it, all
written by Lehrer’s protagonist who finds himself in prison
looking back on his life and career. Nearly a year after the
controversial author is thrown into a federal prison for
refusing to reveal the name of a confidential source, he
decides to break his silence. But it’s not as simple as
giving up a name to the grand jury. Over the course of one
long night, in the darkness of his prison cell, he whispers
his life story into a microcassette recorder, tracing his
journey from the public housing project of his youth, to a
career as a journalist, then experimental novelist, college
professor, accidental bestselling author, pop-culture
pundit, and unindicted prisoner.
In A LIFE IN
BOOKS, 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.
Written and designed by award-winning
author/artist Warren Lehrer, A LIFE IN BOOKS
is an extraordinarily original, funny, heartwarming and
heart-wrenching exploration of one man’s use of books as a
means of understanding himself, the people around him, and a
half-century of American/global events. Rich with stories
that spring from other stories, this genre-defying novel
orchestrates a multicultural symphony of characters from
Bleu’s life and books: lovers, mothers, children, friends,
enemies, teachers, students, runaways, rebels, thinkers,
dreamers, believers, skeptics, the displaced and
dispossessed. It celebrates the mysteries and contradictions
of the creative process, and grapples with the future of the
book as a medium, and the lines that separate truth, myth,
and fiction. This four-color, full-length novel—containing
over 101 hilarious and scrumptious book cover designs (and
book-like objects)—fuses art and literature, and
distinguishes itself as one of those books you’ll want to
hold in your hands, feast your eyes on, read and re-read,
share with friends, and treasure for years to come.
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