No orangutans were hurt in the making of this production...

Blazing Reader,

Last night, Jordan Henderson, an orangutan named Grok and I unveiled Kirkus Reviews' review of my novel, Much Ado About Corona. For those who missed the live stream, a recording is now available:

In it Jordan and I...

• discuss possible reasons (conspiracy theories!) why novels, TV shows and movies have all but ignored the COVID years
• give a brief and fascinating history of how Virginia Kirkus launched the Kirkus Reviews during the Great Depression despite being told by 24 of 25 advisors that it was an insane idea
• dissect some oddities and politically-correct leanings in other Kirkus Reviews

We conclude with Jordan reading the Kirkus Reviews' review of Much Ado About Corona while a stuffed orangutan covers my eyes. Find out what this mainstream outlet had to say about my counter-narrative novel.

You can watch (or just listen) to it on YouTube, BitChute, Rumble and X.

—John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.