Joke books have a long publishing history dating back to the 'Philogelos' from ancient Greece and 'Facetiae' of the 15th century. But while there are themed joke books on everything from cats to lawyers, there have surprisingly been few with a literary theme.

The Book of Book Jokes includes a huge range of comic material concentrating exclusively on the themes of books, reading, libraries, bookshops, and the literary life. As well as one-liners, puns, knock-knock jokes, and shaggy dog stories, it will feature sections including gravestones, book titles, jokes in acknowledgements/ copyright/index pages, literary hoaxes, literary snark, and authors' in-jokes in novels, as well as sections such as Charles Dickens's humorous fake book decorations. It will also feature the favourite jokes of well-known writers, and a selection of literary cartoons.