TriumphOfTheNow.com – a Manifesto (a Personifesto)
what is Triumph of the Now? It’s scott manley hadley
Category: Book Review
The Essential Lenny Bruce: His Original Unexpurgated Satirical Routines, edited by John Cohen
reading some work of an important early comedian
Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch
what if we could all be geniuses… for a few months as we die of germ warfare???
The Touch Report by Katrina Palmer
a book about the normalised violence of the visual arts canon
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
phenomenal stuff from an acclaimed writer I’ve never previously encountered
Windslash: The Last Elemental by Chris Bennett
being English poisons the mind; I read a fantasy novel that intentionally repeats itself
The Exhaust of Dreams Adulterated by Jane Rosenberg LaForge
a lovely collection of engaging autobiographical poetry
Common by Nikolai Duffy
contemporary intellectual mid-life crisis novel that focuses on the life of the head not the life of the heart
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
very enjoyable time travel thriller-romance combo
The Worlds of Jane Austen by Helena Kelly
a lovely popular history coffee table book bouncing around the life of Jane Austen
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Ivana Sajko
perfect, glorious, flawless. i should only read 100 page bleak novellas
Light by M. John Harrison
i read a book i hoped to love while staying with just my baby on a boat
COAL by Remi Graves
an excellent and significant chapbook of “poems and experiments”
Octavo by Marty Neumeier
a great historical detective novel surrounded by a misjudged contemporary thriller
july/aug/sept movie watching round up
what I was watching in July, August, September 2025
Fall of Civilizations [sic] by Paul Cooper
fourteen brief histories reminding us that everything always falls apart
IAN ASSERSOHN: NOTES ON THE LAMPMAKER INTERVIEW
notes on my new video interview with Ian Assersohn, author of The Lampmaker
IAN ASSERSOHN: NEW VIDEO INTERVIEW
a new video interview with Ian Assersohn, author of The Lampmaker
The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carré
everyone’s horny… and corrupt!: a 1970s spy thriller
Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam
halfwritten blog from a month ago with notes on the delay thank u for reading
A Foreign Country is the Past by Fernando Sdrigotti
a great collection of short stories that aren’t pretending to not be a collection of short stories
Vantage Points: On Media as Trans Memoir by Chase Joynt
phenomenal piece of mixed form memoir, thought, analysis, collage
Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann
an interesting history book that bizarrely panders to the sensibilities of people who will never read it
Notes Made While Falling by Jenn Ashworth
some notes on Notes Made While Falling, EXACTLY my kinda book
Live Show Announcement: Bald Personality Disorder at the Lambeth Fringe
I’m very very very excited to announce that I’ll be performing some kind of spoken word/alternative comedy/performance art work-in-progress showContinue Reading
West by Carys Davies
notes on a cracking, strange, borderline metatexual novella
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
a three part post-apocalyptic novel that swings all the way back around to pre-apocalyptic
The Wild Body by Wyndham Lewis
so you’ve got a great name???
In the Shadow of the Phosphorus Dawn by Rob True
some spectacular stuff from UK indie, Influx Press
Forgotten Churches by Luke Sherlock
a journey around English ecclesiastical architecture with a nerd I (eventually) warmed to
june movie round up
what I was watching in May 2025
Notes To John by Joan Didion
a rallying hypocritical cry or is Notes To John an unethical publication in this form only???
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson
too many notes on a lyrical novel that is frequently beautiful but isn’t quite perfect
Playing for Time by Arthur Miller
some life updates, some political commentary and a reflection on an unsubtle Arthur Miller play…
notes for an interview with FRANK ABRAMS, author of THE COCKFIGHT
find out more about THE COCKFIGHT by FRANK ABRAMS through my pre-interview notes
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse #1)
Leviathan Wakes is wall-to-wall fast paced excitement, and absolutely nothing else…
may movie round up
what I was watching in May 2025
video – scott manley hadley ten minute alternative comedy set
a longer set than I’ve previously posted…
video – scott manley hadley aka SOLID BALD tries musical comedy
an attempt at musical comedy from scott manley hadley aka SOLID BALD
After Dead by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood #15 (of 13))
probably the greatest book of flash fiction ever published
God Help The Child by Toni Morrison
sadness, cruelty, oppression, magical realism, and a writer in their mid-80s putting out possibly the best depiction of the millennial experience to date
FEATURE INTERVIEW: Pierce Day, author of A Phone of the Artist as a Young Man
author Pierce Day responds to a series of questions about his novel A PHONE OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
a fine novel that didn’t blow my mind like samuel delany usually do
A Phone of the Artist as a Young Man by Pierce Day – PART FOUR OF FOUR
am i bitter? am i jealous? am i over the hill??? – a four part review concludes
A Phone of the Artist as a Young Man by Pierce Day – PART THREE OF FOUR
closer to the text, the faults fall away – a four part review continues
A Phone of the Artist as a Young Man by Pierce Day – PART TWO OF FOUR
LITERATURE DIDN’T DIE WITH JAMES JOYCE: a four-post special series continues
A Phone of the Artist as a Young Man by Pierce Day – PART ONE OF FOUR
I WOULD HAVE SOLD MY DIRTY SOUL TO WRITE THIS BOOK: a four-post special series begins
The Book of Outcasts by Matt Nagin
fun, unpretentious, short fiction collection about men behaving badly
april movie round up
what I was watching in April 2025
Triumph Of The Now 