scott manley hadley
@scottmanleyhadley.bsky.social
bad sad bald cold poet literary lifestyle blogger occasional videos www.TriumphOfTheNow.com
All my historic posts on Anne Carson are popping off, but here's a brand new review of a cracking (and not new) Percival Everett novel - Watershed: wp.me/p3g9wT-bbi
Watershed by Percival Everett
an excellent political thriller about legacies of activism, water rights; also funny
wp.me
I read the fun frothy opening of the nerd-loved Murderbot Diaries: wp.me/p3g9wT-baX
having a lot of fun reading Murderbot by Martha Wells
reading a book loved by a lover is often a risky risk
wp.me
I got a very kind review of my first ever roughshod performance of this new show-in-progress! Seventeen Songs About Lonely Vampires (WIP) at the Arch 555 at Silly Towers theatremuseuk.org/2026/10/04/s...
Seventeen Songs About Lonely Vampires (WIP) at the Arch 555 at Silly Towers
The blurb promises vampires, loneliness and "probably blood (not the film)", and an evening in a railway arch with a drink in hand suits that sort of bill nicel
theatremuseuk.org
I read Hemingway's second (and posthumous) book length piece about bullfighting, this one about a destructive though not unfriendly rivalry, all witnessed and recorded by a Hemingway on a crash course towards his own imminent demise: triumphofthenow.com/2026/09/30/t...
hemingway's final bullfighting book - living hard close to his death
Ernest Hemingway, Nobel laureate, wrote a follow-up to Death In The Afternoon, published posthumously in the 1980s; scott manley hadley reflects
triumphofthenow.com
I did a local radio interview about my forthcoming Lambeth Fringe WIP performance: triumphofthenow.com/2026/09/21/a...
audio interview: smh live on Riverside Radio
vampiric chat on live local radio (now it’s a recording)
triumphofthenow.com
Classic case of internet-isis: just looked at my phone instead of out the window to check for rain and now I'm getting wet
I read the excellent sleazy airplane fantasy, Sky Daddy by Kate Folk: wp.me/p3g9wT-b8m
Sky Daddy by Kate Folk
hot flight action in a chassis-busting novel of plane crash desire
wp.me
I read an excellent CNF from Biblioasis about James Baldwin and two other writers - Baldwin, Styron, and Me by Mélikah Abdelmoumen: triumphofthenow.com/2026/09/09/b...
Baldwin, Styron, and Me by Mélikah Abdelmoumen
great CNF on three writers of differing levels of internal renown
triumphofthenow.com
Thoughts on a cracking space opera about hyper intelligent spiders I read in rare moments of August downtime - Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky: wp.me/p3g9wT-b6c
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
a brilliantly fun giant space opera that filled my sparse down time at the Edinburgh Fringe
wp.me
Someone took the time to watch and then reflect on my live show! "a unique exploration of hairlessness and mental health issues" triumphofthenow.com/2026/08/28/s...
SCOTT MANLEY HADLEY LIVE: REVIEWED
Wow! A minor major milestone has been hit, and my first ever long form solo show performance has received its first review! As in keeping with me (scott manley hadley) and the show itself (BALD PER…
triumphofthenow.com
I read a moving autobiographical poetry collection about finding and arriving at self: wp.me/p3g9wT-b5r
Twist by Bruce Parkinson Spang
so often what we claim as pragmatism is nothing but repression on a too-grand scale
wp.me
Am I too old for the Edinburgh Fringe? Well, let's just say I just went out to buy a cafetiere because there isn't one in my accommodation.
I read Emily St John Mandel's brilliant structural triumph of a serious, playful hauntology novel, The Glass Hotel: wp.me/p3g9wT-b4B
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
a lovely haunt; a structural triumph full of richly sketched characters
wp.me
I read yet another one of those terrible 1980s James Bond novels: wp.me/p3g9wT-b4d
No Deals, Mr Bond by John Gardner
well this one was shit
wp.me
other Broken Sleep titles I’ve really enjoyed that I would recommend include : @betarish.bsky.social A Hobby Of Mine; @nearlyoscar.bsky.social Fragile July; @severaldeer.bsky.social Home to my Cats; and anything by @scottmanleyhadley.bsky.social
I read an enjoyable though sad and tragic piece of 1950s queer writing, which I chose to read generously - unlike contemporary critics - as a blunt and direct critique of the dangers and risks of repressive cultural norms: wp.me/p3g9wT-b4h
Finistère by Fritz Peters
an engaging novel from 1951 about (or of?) the dangers of homophobic repression
wp.me
Re-read another classic I last read in another life: wp.me/p3g9wT-b2Y
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
she selly sea Shelley by the sea shore
wp.me
I have always used my blog as a space to process experience, and in today's post I reflect on a recent significant event: the unexpected death of my mother-in-law. Sorry for fans of essays on space opera, but the book I read barely makes a dent: triumphofthenow.com/2026/07/15/c...
Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse #2); obituary for Katherine Jane Kaszas
actually an obit for my late mother-in-law, Katherine Jane Kaszas
triumphofthenow.com
I had an unexpected death in the family and I am now weeks behind with everything [else]. If you're in North London on Sunday the 19th July, please come and see me do my last (in theory) rough version of BALD PERSONALITY DISORDER as part of the Watford Fringe: watfringe.co.uk/events/scott...
Scott Manley Hadley: Bald Personality Disorder - 1st to 31st July 2026
No hair. No worries. Well, some worries... Alternative comedy show on mental health, hair loss, gender, money and parenting. Includes sequins, thighs, an interactive bald-themed quiz, poetry, costumes...
watfringe.co.uk
Watch out - millennials only put on that playlist that's all the different theme tunes of The Wire when they're very distressed open.spotify.com/playlist/54t...
The Wire Theme Songs.
Playlist · Leonardo · 5 items · 2.1K saves
open.spotify.com
soothing electro beats and an improvised monologue by a toddler: wp.me/p3g9wT-aZH
SOLID BALD presents: DINO TEETH SOUNDSCAPE feat. BB WHAMATHAN
a collaborative exercise in music composition; a 90second improvised vocal performance by a toddler
wp.me
An enjoyable 1978 SF anthology topped by some cracking Ursula Le Guin: wp.me/p3g9wT-b0d
The Eye of the Heron and Other Stories by Ursula K Le Guin and Others (aka Millennial Women, edited by Virginia Kidd)
a 1978 collection of engaging and intriguing SF by boomer women incorrectly called Millennial Women
wp.me
A very long title, a very good novel: wp.me/p3g9wT-aZX
A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond: as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid by Percival Everett and James Kincaid
a cracking old school epistolary novel about racism and the publishing industry from Percival Everett and a friend
wp.me
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk PART TWO returning to the second half of a recent beastly piece of historical fiction triumphofthenow.com/2026/06/04/t...
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk PART TWO
returning to the second half of a recent beastly piece of historical fiction
triumphofthenow.com
