The Anonymous Lawyer Blook

"It's finally here," says Jeremy Blachman. "Hopefully on the shelves of a bookstore near you."

Anonymous Lawyer, the blog is now a book, or blook as they call a book that starts out as a blog. Without a doubt, Anonymous Lawyer will be a strong contender for a Blooker Prize. USA Today calls the book "wickedly amusing," Publishers Weekly calls it "side-achingly funny," the New York Post gives it 4 stars out of 4, "and my grandmother really loves it too," says Blachman, who describes the plot in this synopsis:

In the novel, Anonymous Lawyer sets out on a quest to eliminate his biggest rival, The Jerk, and become chairman of the firm -- while dealing with incompetent associates, his spendthrift wife, and the inner torment deep in his soul. Very deep. It's not a compilation of blog posts.
That would be like double-billing a client. And we never double-bill clients. Okay, we do, but not this time.
New material.

There have been other blooks (like Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl written by Belle de Jour, an anonymous London call girl) but nobody ever whored one as good as Jeremy Blachman.

First, there was his cleverly guarded anonymous identity that made his Anonymous Lawyer blog all the buzz in the blawgosphere, culminating with his very public outing by the New York Times. It was enough to make David Lat green with envy!

Then there was the Anonymous Lawyer page at MySpace.com, which hilariously disclosed more about this character than any self-respecting attorney really wanted to know:

About me:

I'm a hiring partner at a corporate law firm in Los Angeles, CA, and I have a weblog where I write about my job at http://anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com.

Who I'd like to meet:

Hard-working associates who don't complain about their work-life balance, competent secretaries who don't insist on being called "administrative assistants," and a doctor who can prescribe some medication to make my wife more intelligent.

Whoa, hold on, there's more. Have you seen the website for his Anonymous Law Firm? What an absolutely fabulous parody of big law firms. Reviews of the book, by print journalists and bloggers alike, are linked on the website of the Anonymous Law Firm.

Book reviews have been posted by lawyers on their blogs over the past few weeks leading up to this publication date, creating even more buzz. Among the many good reviews, especially recommended are the thoughtful comments of Evan Schaeffer and Carolyn Elefant, and this (Not A) Book Review by Sherry Fowler.

Ernie the Attorney, who recently escaped Biglaw himself, says the book is "friggin' hysterical" and David Adesnik at OxBlog offers this recommendation:

"If you are a lawyer, buy this book. If you know a lawyer, buy him or her this book. If you're a partner at a law firm, buy all existing copies of this book and burn them before your subordinates have a chance to read it."

May we recommend that everyone read Anonymous Lawyer, and come back for more of Jeremy's creative writing in the upcoming "linkwhore editon" of Blawg Review #68.