Mark Bowles’ debut All My Precious Madness hit the ground running, even before it’s release from UK bookshops yesterday. Having raked in raves from major reviewers across The Guardian, The Times, and more, All My Precious Madness has already cemented itself as a singular novel destined to shake up the lit fic scene this Autumn and that is exactly why it’s come out on top as our Book of the Month for September.

All My Precious Madness is the story of a man at odds with the world. A man who wants to escape his violent past but instead – most emphatically – repeats it. Henry Nash has hauled his way from a working class childhood in Bradford, through an undergraduate degree at Oxford, and into adulthood and an academic elite. But still, he can’t escape his anger. As the world – and men in particular – continue to disappoint him, so does his rage grow in momentum until it becomes almost rapturous. And lethal.

At the book’s core is the voice of Henry Nash, which is as sharp and bitter as a lemon. We are taken through Henry’s life from a violent childhood, to an undergrad at Oxford, through soul-crushing job in telesales, right up to Henry’s most pivotal moment; the culmination of his anger and ostracization. Cutting through his life story, are Henry’s signature rants. He vents against all that he hates, from English small-minded mentalities to the “sloppy latte drinking fucks” who frequent his favourite café. Bowles’ skill shines through these countless rants – his hilarious wit and excellent writing hook you in and keep you swallowing Henry’s fury.

Bowles’ other strength, and what the book will bring to the fore for many readers, is his exploration of gender and violence. Henry’s view of normative or imposed gender is primarily that “Men have ingested or besmeared themselves with such harsh substances in order to harden themselves”. He seems determined to resist the cultural expectation that manhood = violence, recognising much of gender as “gesture”. But when the climax of the book arises, can he truly escape what his past and society have framed him to be? Are other factors more to blame for his anger, like his alienation from his “tweedy” Oxford peers, or the crush of corporate culture?

Hailed as “striking” by the Guardian, “a pleasure” by The Times, and “a strange, uncanny and engrossing creation” by The Telegraph, All My Precious Madness is unlike anything you’re likely to read this year. Even as the entire novel subverts your expectations, its ending pulls back another important layer to close Henry’s story. We close the book having delved into the psyche of a man who sees the flaws in the world and people around him, but fails to effectively acknowledge them within himself.

“A striking debut… a polemic against narcissism, small-mindedness and mean-spiritedness… a poignant meditation on a son’s love for his father.”  — The Guardian

“Elegant and darkly funny… A devastating satire on the way in which class, education and masculinity act as a kind of trap [… with an] unnervingly beautiful conclusion. All My Precious Madness is a strange, uncanny and engrossing creation.”  — The Telegraph

“Who doesn’t enjoy a good rant? A good roar is cathartic, with the energy and vitality of a stand-up comedy routine, and that is part of what Mark Bowles offers in his debut novel… Spare… Vivid… Entertaining… It’s the energy of the sentences that drags you on and makes sure that reading All My Precious Madness is a pleasure, even when Henry is at his most maddening.”
— The Times