What do you think?
Rate this book
The World Doesn't Require You
Established by the leaders of the country’s only successful slave revolt in the mid-nineteenth century, Cross River still evokes the fierce rhythms of its founding. In lyrical prose and singular dialect, a saga beats forward that echoes the fables carried down for generations—like the screecher birds who swoop down for their periodic sacrifice, and the water women who lure men to wet deaths.
Among its residents—wildly spanning decades, perspectives, and species—are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be God’s last son; Tyrone, a ruthless PhD candidate, whose dissertation about a childhood game ignites mayhem in the neighboring, once-segregated town of Port Yooga; and Jim, an all-too-obedient robot who serves his Master. As the book builds to its finish with Special Topics in Loneliness Studies, a fully-realized novella, two unhinged professors grapple with hugely different ambitions, and the reader comes to appreciate the intricacy of the world Scott has created—one where fantasy and reality are eternally at war.
Among its residents—wildly spanning decades, perspectives, and species—are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be God’s last son; Tyrone, a ruthless PhD candidate, whose dissertation about a childhood game ignites mayhem in the neighboring, once-segregated town of Port Yooga; and Jim, an all-too-obedient robot who serves his Master. As the book builds to its finish with Special Topics in Loneliness Studies, a fully-realized novella, two unhinged professors grapple with hugely different ambitions, and the reader comes to appreciate the intricacy of the world Scott has created—one where fantasy and reality are eternally at war.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 20, 2019
406 people are currently reading
15958 people want to read
About the author
Rion Amilcar Scott
13 books279 followersRion Amilcar Scott is the author of the story collection, The World Doesn't Require You (Norton/Liveright, August 2019). His debut story collection, Insurrections (University Press of Kentucky, 2016), was awarded the 2017 PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the 2017 Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. His work has been published in journals such as The Kenyon Review, Crab Orchard Review, and The Rumpus, among others. He lives in Annapolis, MD with his wife and two sons.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews
March 24, 2020
This is an incredibly ambitious collection, the kind of book where the writer takes huge risks and doesn't look back. There is a lot to admire in these stories and the fictional world of Cross River that serves as the backdrop. The surreality works really well and the angry wit makes the writing so very sharp. One thing I struggled with is that at times, there wasn't a sense of authorial control. The big ideas were there but I wanted more behind the big ideas. Anyway, I truly cannot wait to see what Scott does next. There is nothing like this book out in the world right now, and few writers are producing work of such intelligence, edge, and creativity.
August 1, 2019
Edit (8/1/19): This review was initially posted on 6/9/19, but after seeing it get shouted out by Goodreads I've seen a review bomb effort undertaken by some dummy accounts giving this book 1 star ratings. I just wanted to let people know that, since I posted one of the earliest reviews of this book, which I acquired at BookExpo America in May.
Thanks to W.W. Norton for the ARC at BEA 2019!
This book was phenomenal. Rion Scott has written a collection of short stories here, all in different styles, in different time periods, all set in the same place, a fictional area in Maryland founded by slave rebels. We see this region through various different periods of turmoil, past, present and future. They all have elements of a magical realist style with an African-American lens. I'll admit, some of the stories were more enticing than others. If it had just finished with that, I would probably give this a four and be done there.
But the last story, which was significantly longer (almost half the book), was what took this over the top and made it so much better in my opinion. The final chapter deals with the story of a disgraced English professor whose personal and professional life collapses amidst a spiral of lies, loneliness, and despair. The section touches on themes brought up throughout the previous chapters, and it's non-linear timeline, rotation of POVs, different styles (normal conversational fiction and digital epistolary), and brilliant prose was a grand slam to close the book. It really made me think long and hard about what it means to be lonely, to be loved, to be successful and to be respected. That final section would have made an excellent book on it's own, but mixed with an already solid short story collection made this one of the best books I've read this year. Highly, highly recommend.
Thanks to W.W. Norton for the ARC at BEA 2019!
This book was phenomenal. Rion Scott has written a collection of short stories here, all in different styles, in different time periods, all set in the same place, a fictional area in Maryland founded by slave rebels. We see this region through various different periods of turmoil, past, present and future. They all have elements of a magical realist style with an African-American lens. I'll admit, some of the stories were more enticing than others. If it had just finished with that, I would probably give this a four and be done there.
But the last story, which was significantly longer (almost half the book), was what took this over the top and made it so much better in my opinion. The final chapter deals with the story of a disgraced English professor whose personal and professional life collapses amidst a spiral of lies, loneliness, and despair. The section touches on themes brought up throughout the previous chapters, and it's non-linear timeline, rotation of POVs, different styles (normal conversational fiction and digital epistolary), and brilliant prose was a grand slam to close the book. It really made me think long and hard about what it means to be lonely, to be loved, to be successful and to be respected. That final section would have made an excellent book on it's own, but mixed with an already solid short story collection made this one of the best books I've read this year. Highly, highly recommend.
March 26, 2020
Rion Amilcar Scott is one of my favorite living authors.
The World Doesn't Require You is Scott's second short story collection, yet it is the one where a lot of readers were introduced to him due to a change in publisher from his first collection (TWDRY published by Liveright/Norton, Insurrections published by University of Kentucky Press. Liveright is the larger press of the two). If he were a rapper than you might say that TWDRY is his major label debut, and of course, as expected, he knocked his major label debut out of the park.
Within the 11 stories and the 150+ page novella contained in this book we revisit the home of Scott's first short story collection, Cross River, Maryland. A town that you won't find on your maps app, but one that you will be convinced you can visit after you spend some time with this collection.
In Cross River you come across the likes of David Sherman, the last son of God, who hilariously learns that "God answers all prayers.... and sometimes God's answer is no." You'll meet LN Jim (I'll let y'all find out what LN means) who is literally programmed to be fine with his oppression. Dr. Reginald Chambers the professor who goes rogue to teach his students at Freedman's University about one of the strongest themes in this collection: loneliness.
Loneliness is a theme we come across, but also the lengths we will go to create something original, the ways those who are oppressed go around oppressing others in a fashion akin to their oppressors. We are introduced to some of the mythology of folklore of Cross River, such as the water-women & the screechers. You will also get reintroduced to a form of music created in Cross River that was touched on in Insurrections, Riverbeat.
I think TWDRY is best consumed after reading Insurrections, due to the things you will be glad to see for a second time, but if you come across Scott's major label debut first then you might as well give it a spin.
This genre-defying, versatile, & overall innovative collection deserves to go platinum.
The World Doesn't Require You is Scott's second short story collection, yet it is the one where a lot of readers were introduced to him due to a change in publisher from his first collection (TWDRY published by Liveright/Norton, Insurrections published by University of Kentucky Press. Liveright is the larger press of the two). If he were a rapper than you might say that TWDRY is his major label debut, and of course, as expected, he knocked his major label debut out of the park.
Within the 11 stories and the 150+ page novella contained in this book we revisit the home of Scott's first short story collection, Cross River, Maryland. A town that you won't find on your maps app, but one that you will be convinced you can visit after you spend some time with this collection.
In Cross River you come across the likes of David Sherman, the last son of God, who hilariously learns that "God answers all prayers.... and sometimes God's answer is no." You'll meet LN Jim (I'll let y'all find out what LN means) who is literally programmed to be fine with his oppression. Dr. Reginald Chambers the professor who goes rogue to teach his students at Freedman's University about one of the strongest themes in this collection: loneliness.
Loneliness is a theme we come across, but also the lengths we will go to create something original, the ways those who are oppressed go around oppressing others in a fashion akin to their oppressors. We are introduced to some of the mythology of folklore of Cross River, such as the water-women & the screechers. You will also get reintroduced to a form of music created in Cross River that was touched on in Insurrections, Riverbeat.
I think TWDRY is best consumed after reading Insurrections, due to the things you will be glad to see for a second time, but if you come across Scott's major label debut first then you might as well give it a spin.
This genre-defying, versatile, & overall innovative collection deserves to go platinum.
July 28, 2024
Rion Amilcar Scott’s story collection, The World Doesn’t Require You, is one of the most astonishingly smart collections I’ve ever read. I don’t think I’ve read anything as brutally intelligent as Scott’s stories. Even before I finished the book, I wanted to gather all of the literature wonks I know and force them to read this collection as fast as humanly possible, so that we can talk about what the stories have to say, how they are constructed, and what the hell we’re supposed to read next because this collection is just so damn good...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
August 20, 2019
Quirky, in an Ishmael Reed kind of way. A heavy helping of satire with a steady stream of wisdom. This short story collection is unlike any I’ve read in recent memory, mainly because it is so left field in a positive way. That magical realism pops up here (more and more becoming a thing in fiction) and really informs the entire collection. I’m still on the fence as a fan of that device, though it works well here. Although the stories are separate they are all connected to the fictional Cross River.
And never has a fictional community been built to such a feeling of real as in this work. Rion Scott kicks off the fun with David Sherman, the Last Son of God, he writes “God is from Cross River, everyone knows that. He was tall, lanky; wore dirty brown clothes and walked with a limp he tried to disguise as a bop.” Once the hilarity of it starts, it rarely lets up, with laugh out loud outrageousness such as the The Ni**er Knockers, a story that subtly pokes fun at serious scholarship, exhibiting that damn near anything can be a dissertation, “I looked at the title and fell into an amusement, a raw laughter so deep and pure that I was cleansed when it began to subside. ‘Ni**er Knocks: A Brief Cultural History.’”
By the time you get to the story on Loneliness Studies, you will be wondering what the fcuk is Rion Scott trying to tell us. Everything from religion to scholarship gets skewered here and all of it will have you shaking your damn head.
A bit of a warning, this is not for the easily offended, there is no doubt some content may be considered offensive, so come into this book with an open mind and discerning heart and enjoy the crazy community of Cross River, a place rich in mythology, history, a community college and it’s own sound! Rion Scott is now on the “Writers to watch” radar. Thanks to Netgalley and Liveright Publishing for an advanced DRC. Book will hit the market on Aug. 20, 2019!
And never has a fictional community been built to such a feeling of real as in this work. Rion Scott kicks off the fun with David Sherman, the Last Son of God, he writes “God is from Cross River, everyone knows that. He was tall, lanky; wore dirty brown clothes and walked with a limp he tried to disguise as a bop.” Once the hilarity of it starts, it rarely lets up, with laugh out loud outrageousness such as the The Ni**er Knockers, a story that subtly pokes fun at serious scholarship, exhibiting that damn near anything can be a dissertation, “I looked at the title and fell into an amusement, a raw laughter so deep and pure that I was cleansed when it began to subside. ‘Ni**er Knocks: A Brief Cultural History.’”
By the time you get to the story on Loneliness Studies, you will be wondering what the fcuk is Rion Scott trying to tell us. Everything from religion to scholarship gets skewered here and all of it will have you shaking your damn head.
A bit of a warning, this is not for the easily offended, there is no doubt some content may be considered offensive, so come into this book with an open mind and discerning heart and enjoy the crazy community of Cross River, a place rich in mythology, history, a community college and it’s own sound! Rion Scott is now on the “Writers to watch” radar. Thanks to Netgalley and Liveright Publishing for an advanced DRC. Book will hit the market on Aug. 20, 2019!
August 23, 2019
If given the choice to have a conversation with any author dead or alive at this very moment, I would pick Rion Amilcar Scott. In his collection of stories, The World Doesn't Require You, Scott masterfully mixes a bizarre cocktail of satire, magical realism and a world that only he could create.
After each story I literally said to myself “How tf did he do that?” His story telling skills are on a whole different level. This collection can and will make you uncomfortable, but its powerful and stimulating.
I highly recommending this collection, especially the last story: Loneliness Studies, it’s the longest story in the collection (this one had me thinking hard about the human emotion).
After each story I literally said to myself “How tf did he do that?” His story telling skills are on a whole different level. This collection can and will make you uncomfortable, but its powerful and stimulating.
I highly recommending this collection, especially the last story: Loneliness Studies, it’s the longest story in the collection (this one had me thinking hard about the human emotion).
August 6, 2022
3.5 stars - I'm not sure I was smart enough to unpack everything in this on my own, but in the moments where I was able to connect, I really appreciated how clever these stories are. My favorite story was probably the first one with the 13th son of God, but there were several memorable entries, along with ones that did not work as well for me
July 31, 2019
I opted to sit with this book awhile before deciding to write a review.
Prior to reading this work, I had never heard of Rion Amilcar Scott, nor had I any knowledge of his debut Insurrections. The book was chosen for its cover--which is absolutely captivating--and its blurb: I was intrigued by the concept of a generation of people with an enduring connection to a place like Cross River; a place that is, of course, fictional, but one that also inspires a curious sort of mindset.
Let me tell you, this is not the sort of book you pick up on a whim and read. You need to be in the mood for it; a fact I discovered very shortly into the first story: the one about God's last son.
After reading it, I walked away for a day, before reading the next story, because I felt overwhelmed by the messages. I needed someone to talk to about what I'd read and see if they understood it the same or, perhaps, interpreted it altogether differently.
This is a work that offers an experience and so much of that experience is subjective. It would be an injustice to interpret the stories because you truly need to read them for yourself.
What I can say is there will be people who rate it low for its abstraction and others who'll opt out because it's such a dense read. I admittedly thought of doing the latter because of how overwhelmed I felt; like I needed a guide to walk me through each story and point out what may have been lost in my own translation.
I suggest reading this with a friend. There's so much discussion worthy material within this collection.
This is particularly true where the last story is concerned--it takes up over half the book--as I found it had a lot to say about the academic world, and how it treats its professors and students, at the collegiate level.
If you like a challenge, and can appreciate receiving it in a manner that may cause some mild discomfort, then this book is for you.
Just be sure you're ready to give it the proper amount of your attention and don't jump ship before you've given it time to truly set its course.
Thank you to Edelweiss+ and Liveright Books for the opportunity to read and review this Advanced eGalley. Opinion is my own and was not influenced.
Prior to reading this work, I had never heard of Rion Amilcar Scott, nor had I any knowledge of his debut Insurrections. The book was chosen for its cover--which is absolutely captivating--and its blurb: I was intrigued by the concept of a generation of people with an enduring connection to a place like Cross River; a place that is, of course, fictional, but one that also inspires a curious sort of mindset.
Let me tell you, this is not the sort of book you pick up on a whim and read. You need to be in the mood for it; a fact I discovered very shortly into the first story: the one about God's last son.
After reading it, I walked away for a day, before reading the next story, because I felt overwhelmed by the messages. I needed someone to talk to about what I'd read and see if they understood it the same or, perhaps, interpreted it altogether differently.
This is a work that offers an experience and so much of that experience is subjective. It would be an injustice to interpret the stories because you truly need to read them for yourself.
What I can say is there will be people who rate it low for its abstraction and others who'll opt out because it's such a dense read. I admittedly thought of doing the latter because of how overwhelmed I felt; like I needed a guide to walk me through each story and point out what may have been lost in my own translation.
I suggest reading this with a friend. There's so much discussion worthy material within this collection.
This is particularly true where the last story is concerned--it takes up over half the book--as I found it had a lot to say about the academic world, and how it treats its professors and students, at the collegiate level.
If you like a challenge, and can appreciate receiving it in a manner that may cause some mild discomfort, then this book is for you.
Just be sure you're ready to give it the proper amount of your attention and don't jump ship before you've given it time to truly set its course.
Thank you to Edelweiss+ and Liveright Books for the opportunity to read and review this Advanced eGalley. Opinion is my own and was not influenced.
January 3, 2020
I wanted to like this book so badly. It is smart, and it makes you think differently about America and American history. A couple of the short stories (the ones involving robots, and "The War Against Rape") are just, so, so smart and true. This is a book rooted in where I am from, and where I live. But it is a book written for men. It is a book about unpleasant men, and their issues with women. Many of the characters, if not the narrator, consistently objectify women. Other than in the short story about the rice farm, I don't think that there is a single female character who is there for a reason other than to give a male character motivation or insight.
There need to be books for men. Not all books need to be written for me. But I don't have to spend my time reading about men's issues with women.
There need to be books for men. Not all books need to be written for me. But I don't have to spend my time reading about men's issues with women.
July 29, 2019
I was hooked from the very first story. This book grabbed me and spoke to me in a way that no book has done in a truly long time.
This collection of essays covers coming of age and fables stories all wrapped into a beautiful collection that explores slavery, love, and connection mixed in with African American history and experience.
The themes are unique and powerful, often leaving me with deep thoughts and analysis.
A thought-provoking and strong collection.
This collection of essays covers coming of age and fables stories all wrapped into a beautiful collection that explores slavery, love, and connection mixed in with African American history and experience.
The themes are unique and powerful, often leaving me with deep thoughts and analysis.
A thought-provoking and strong collection.
August 22, 2019
I don’t know why there are so many overtly fake accounts giving this book 1 star.
July 31, 2019
"My only need: to stand as I did, not in perfection, nor in mastery, nor even in competence, but in constant work and growth."
"Ugly words carelessly arranged can derange us just like beautiful words in beautiful order. Ugly derangement saps us and depletes us, devolves us to our base selves, rips feathers from the wings we've gained from all our beautiful derangement."
Rion Scott sows together a powerful tale of what it means to be human. This collection of stories brings to the light loneliness, friendship, hate, love, racism, sexism, slavery, and even hope. Scott's writing is elegant and bold, constantly leaving you wanting more. In the face of life, every character is met with heavy challenges that pushes them. Will they grow from it or break down? Guide others or tear them down? Heartbreaking yet humorous, Scott's vivid writing brings to life what it means to live in a world that treats you with disregard.
What hooked me the most was the last (and longest) story. Special Topics In Loneliness Studies is a breathtaking story about a professors deterioration into loneliness. "Eventually, even our silences between our silences kept their own silences. This, students, is loneliness."
Loneliness is a basic human emotion but what power we let that emotion have over us is what shapes us. Knowing that we all feel it, do we let it bring us together or isolate us and become a thing of rage and self-destruction?
This book is raw, imaginative, and bold. Scott's writing demands to be heard.
"Ugly words carelessly arranged can derange us just like beautiful words in beautiful order. Ugly derangement saps us and depletes us, devolves us to our base selves, rips feathers from the wings we've gained from all our beautiful derangement."
Rion Scott sows together a powerful tale of what it means to be human. This collection of stories brings to the light loneliness, friendship, hate, love, racism, sexism, slavery, and even hope. Scott's writing is elegant and bold, constantly leaving you wanting more. In the face of life, every character is met with heavy challenges that pushes them. Will they grow from it or break down? Guide others or tear them down? Heartbreaking yet humorous, Scott's vivid writing brings to life what it means to live in a world that treats you with disregard.
What hooked me the most was the last (and longest) story. Special Topics In Loneliness Studies is a breathtaking story about a professors deterioration into loneliness. "Eventually, even our silences between our silences kept their own silences. This, students, is loneliness."
Loneliness is a basic human emotion but what power we let that emotion have over us is what shapes us. Knowing that we all feel it, do we let it bring us together or isolate us and become a thing of rage and self-destruction?
This book is raw, imaginative, and bold. Scott's writing demands to be heard.
July 11, 2020
5+ out of 5.
Astoundingly good. That last novella, SPECIAL TOPICS IN LONELINESS STUDIES, is... holy shit. It's a thing of exceptional exquisite beauty and grace and power. I loved this so much; I need to read Insurrections immediately. I can't wait to get back to Cross River.
Astoundingly good. That last novella, SPECIAL TOPICS IN LONELINESS STUDIES, is... holy shit. It's a thing of exceptional exquisite beauty and grace and power. I loved this so much; I need to read Insurrections immediately. I can't wait to get back to Cross River.
December 13, 2019
Ingenious is a fair way to describe this collection of stories, and probably doesn’t do Scott’s work justice. Rion Amilcar Scott’s The World Doesn’t Require You is a collection of 11 short stories and one novella. A dark, riveting, work of satire with awesome Easter eggs throughout; the reader is taken on a journey through different time periods in the fictional town of Cross River, Maryland. Cross River is the located on the grounds of a successful slave revolt of the early 19th century. I found the stories extremely thought-provoking. Ending a year of way too much fiction-reading, this provided a welcome reprieve. Though fiction, Scott’s structuring and world building made for something I had not yet experienced. The build up to the last story, followed by the novella, was well worth any of my apprehension.
Scott tackles matters of anti-blackness, misogyny, and inter-personal afflictions in a unique and responsible manner. My world certainly requires more writing like this. I can’t wait to see what’s happening in Cross River again.
Scott tackles matters of anti-blackness, misogyny, and inter-personal afflictions in a unique and responsible manner. My world certainly requires more writing like this. I can’t wait to see what’s happening in Cross River again.
Read
September 9, 2019Wow, what did I just read? This book is incredible.
July 27, 2019
"It’s true. Every word of it. Even the parts I made up. Especially the parts I made up."
The essays from The World Doesn't Require You include biblical updates, coming of age stories, new fables, and more.
The tales explore African American history, slavery, power, love, personal connections, and so much more.
The voices are raw and vibrant, the themes thought provoking and often uncomfortable, but always unique and never forgettable.
This is powerful stuff.
This ARC was provided by Norton, in exchange for an honest review.
The essays from The World Doesn't Require You include biblical updates, coming of age stories, new fables, and more.
The tales explore African American history, slavery, power, love, personal connections, and so much more.
The voices are raw and vibrant, the themes thought provoking and often uncomfortable, but always unique and never forgettable.
This is powerful stuff.
This ARC was provided by Norton, in exchange for an honest review.
September 17, 2019
special topics in loneliness studies is particularly spectacular in its questioning and takedown (possibly satirical and, somehow, incredibly genuine) of academia, lionizing literary heroes, and our relationships with our selves and our loved ones.
December 3, 2019
This book has some awesome parts but then it just goes left. It’s so deep that I am missing the point in some of the stories. I do have my favorites though. Riding on 6 fos is good
August 24, 2019
Review to come.
November 16, 2019
After seeing Mr. Scott at the Texas Book Festival where he was insightful and articulate about his own work and the state of modern short stories, and after sampling the many positive reviews posted here, I still feel disappointed with this story collection. To me it was mostly style with little substance. Sentences often seemed to be much ado about very little. I get that loneliness is universal, but what of it? The much-praised novella portion seemed like a too-easy and superficial send up of academia -- more like the complaints and fantasies of a weary grad student than a perceptive take down. And while race is prominent in some of the earlier stories, it's nearly lost in the novella's focus on loneliness. I need to grow more as a reader of work on the more experimental end of the spectrum, so maybe I'll revisit this as I mature.
December 7, 2023
I had a hard time reading this book - picked it up on a whim at the library. I’m generally not a short stories person but I think there was a lot of subtext that wasn’t clear to me. Still enjoyable to read but I think I would have fared better in a book club where I could discuss the things I feel like I’m “missing”
February 10, 2022
I started The World Does Not Require You eight months ago and adored the first several stories, which are all set in Cross River, the site of the only successful slave uprising. This is a book that I kept talking about and encouraging friends to read:
God is from Cross River, everyone knows that. He was tall, lanky; wore dirty brown clothes and walked with a limp he tried to disguise as a bop. His chin held a messy salt-and-pepper beard that extended to his Adam’s apple. Always clutching a mango in His hand. (p. 1)
I liked God. I liked the description of Nigger Knocks – what we called Ding, Dong, Ditch:
Nigger Knocks changed the world and I wouldn’t want to live on a planet in which kids had never conceived of knocking on doors and racing away. Former slaves constructed this town one nigger knock at a time, to paraphrase my friend. What was once unknown to me now seemed obvious. (p. 26)
Still, somehow I lost Scott's story and wished that I'd had someone to read and discuss this with. I didn't "get" it, so couldn't appreciate it, as many people obviously did. I loved some characters, but there were many who I didn't like. When their voices were prominent, as in his ending novella, I struggled.
This review probably says as much about me as this book. I'm sorry.
God is from Cross River, everyone knows that. He was tall, lanky; wore dirty brown clothes and walked with a limp he tried to disguise as a bop. His chin held a messy salt-and-pepper beard that extended to his Adam’s apple. Always clutching a mango in His hand. (p. 1)
I liked God. I liked the description of Nigger Knocks – what we called Ding, Dong, Ditch:
Nigger Knocks changed the world and I wouldn’t want to live on a planet in which kids had never conceived of knocking on doors and racing away. Former slaves constructed this town one nigger knock at a time, to paraphrase my friend. What was once unknown to me now seemed obvious. (p. 26)
Still, somehow I lost Scott's story and wished that I'd had someone to read and discuss this with. I didn't "get" it, so couldn't appreciate it, as many people obviously did. I loved some characters, but there were many who I didn't like. When their voices were prominent, as in his ending novella, I struggled.
This review probably says as much about me as this book. I'm sorry.
October 31, 2021
I absolutely loved the novella "Special Topics in Loneliness Studies" that is the last story in this collection. LOVED. It fits into a long line of fiction about academics having the ultimate bad day / week / year and the reader watches them just cascade down a hill of desperation into lunacy. LOVED IT.
The 11 stories that preceded the novella were good, but some were really brutal explorations of racist behaviors that made them very tough reads. True to the world, necessary, but hard to take in all at once. I started alternating a story in this book with a story in another to give me a pause between beatings.
This would make a good companion piece for both "Friday Black" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, as well as "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty. The final novella is also a great companion to numerous other academia-centric books, "Straight Man" by Richard Russo is the first that jumps to mind, but there are numerous "male academic has a bad day, things go rapidly downhill" books that are similarity hilarious and sarcastic.
The 11 stories that preceded the novella were good, but some were really brutal explorations of racist behaviors that made them very tough reads. True to the world, necessary, but hard to take in all at once. I started alternating a story in this book with a story in another to give me a pause between beatings.
This would make a good companion piece for both "Friday Black" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, as well as "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty. The final novella is also a great companion to numerous other academia-centric books, "Straight Man" by Richard Russo is the first that jumps to mind, but there are numerous "male academic has a bad day, things go rapidly downhill" books that are similarity hilarious and sarcastic.
September 9, 2019
I think anyone who gives this book less than four stars lacks a sense of adventurousness in their literary tastes. The novella makes me want to see what madness Scott can come up with in a novel.
November 15, 2020
The first short story is about a man who plays in a church band and has a religious experience with music. The second story is about two grown men who play Ding Dong Ditch. The third story is about a robot who experiences ... race, and slavery. The fourth story is a little confusing. The protagonist seems to be schizophrenic or something similar, and fairly misogynist. It seemed beautifully written but I couldn't follow it, so I skipped to the next one after about two thirds.
I felt that the stories in the book started out pretty good and got better as they went. There's a very short one about rape that's extremely powerful. "Numbers" is an interesting historical story about gangsters - again with a vaguely misogynistic protagonist. The stories do seem very Male. There are no queer characters. The trend toward magical realism is captivating. I like that several of the early stories in the book are continued in stories later in the book.
I kept wanting this book to feel cerebral and literary and it was poetic, at times, but overall I was intellectually understimutated. A lot of the stories made me feel I was looking at something grotesque and a little sad. Not my favorite feeling. My favorite story in the book was the novella at the end, the longest story. It's about a professor - Dr. Reginald Chambers - who goes insane. He starts expecting and even demanding some really unreasonable levels of emotional intimacy from his students. He talks about his most personal, private feelings in inappropriate times and places. The story had some powerful things to say about university bureaucracy and loneliness. However all this was sort of overshadowed by the fact that the two POV characters were, again, men, and again, misogynists. It made me wonder if the author is capable of writing anything else - though there are a couple of letters in that last novella written by a female student that paint a different picture. At one point a (very sensible) feminist adjunct points out to Reginald Chambers that "unrequited love" tends to take the form of "men harassing women they expect sex from" and Chambers dismisses her as a "water woman" (siren.)
This might be a good book for a discussion group but on my own I wouldn't reread.
I felt that the stories in the book started out pretty good and got better as they went. There's a very short one about rape that's extremely powerful. "Numbers" is an interesting historical story about gangsters - again with a vaguely misogynistic protagonist. The stories do seem very Male. There are no queer characters. The trend toward magical realism is captivating. I like that several of the early stories in the book are continued in stories later in the book.
I kept wanting this book to feel cerebral and literary and it was poetic, at times, but overall I was intellectually understimutated. A lot of the stories made me feel I was looking at something grotesque and a little sad. Not my favorite feeling. My favorite story in the book was the novella at the end, the longest story. It's about a professor - Dr. Reginald Chambers - who goes insane. He starts expecting and even demanding some really unreasonable levels of emotional intimacy from his students. He talks about his most personal, private feelings in inappropriate times and places. The story had some powerful things to say about university bureaucracy and loneliness. However all this was sort of overshadowed by the fact that the two POV characters were, again, men, and again, misogynists. It made me wonder if the author is capable of writing anything else - though there are a couple of letters in that last novella written by a female student that paint a different picture. At one point a (very sensible) feminist adjunct points out to Reginald Chambers that "unrequited love" tends to take the form of "men harassing women they expect sex from" and Chambers dismisses her as a "water woman" (siren.)
This might be a good book for a discussion group but on my own I wouldn't reread.
October 6, 2019
The stories and the novella that comprise Scott’s debut are ambitious and original. They are sometimes engaging, and sometimes abstruse. The selections in the first half of the book consist of short stories that alternate between fully-developed narratives and very short fictions of 2-3 pages. I found the longer stories more memorable. The lead story “David Sherman, the Last Son of God” develops intense drama and intrigue surrounding a struggling musician, while Scott nicely explores themes of art and religion with good and evil. The most outstanding piece in the book is “The N-g--r Knockers.” It is a sobering and searing examination of racism and violence. In fact, this extraordinary story is so ingeniously conceived and structured with riveting suspense that it elevates the entire book from its other elusive, fantastical qualities. Many of Scott’s stories merge ideas of technology with human cognition, and I was often left trying to piece together the incongruent threads of sci-fi and magical realism he attempted to sew together. The sharp humor and accessible prose allowed me to stay the course with some of the more obscure pieces. The novella spanning the book’s second half made for an interesting narrative mix of email messages and essays that helped narrate the lives of two menacing professors in academia.
December 19, 2020
The World Doesn't Require You: Stories, is sharp and strange story collection. unearthly beautiful yet complex. Scott has a unique prose that makes me eager to read more from him in the future. but i think that's the reason why it took me much longer to read, this being my second attempt. it's far more layered short story collection for my preference. and i felt some of the stories dragged or were too short.
what carried this home was of course "special topics of loneliness" and "the nigger knockers".
what carried this home was of course "special topics of loneliness" and "the nigger knockers".
April 3, 2020
If you liked Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, this one’s for you. Scott confronts racial stereotypes by inhabiting them to the nth degree, peeking out from the eye holes of their scary, cartoonish masks with a big wink and a nudge for readers in the know. Afrofuturism plus alternative Afrohistory—a challenging, troubling book that illuminates the grotesqueries in ourselves and in the world. I almost put it down midway through. I’m glad I didn’t.
September 17, 2019
I didn't love this. Some stories were more interesting and readable than others and as a whole they connected. This verges on experimental writing, which is great, but in the end, there were too few female characters and those that were, were nearly inconsequential or written as throw aways.
I hope others can see something to connect with in this book, but I couldn't. It happens.
I hope others can see something to connect with in this book, but I couldn't. It happens.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews