Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

If anyone would like to lead the discussion for THE WORLD DOESN'T REQUIRE YOU: STORIES, please let me know. Thanks!

Sadly, I am not liking this one thus far. I've read about halfway via audiobook. I'll see other comments....and how they feel about this read.

Discussion schedule:

5/3-5/6
David Sherman, the Last Son of God
The Ni**er Knockers

5/7-5/9
The Electric Joy of Service
The Temple of Practical Arts

5/10-5/12
A Rare and Powerful Employee
Numbers

5/13-5/16
A Loudness of Screechers
Mercury in Retrograde

5/17-5/20
On the Occasion of the Death of Freddie Lee
Slim in Hell

5/21-5/24
Rolling in my Six-fo
Special Topics in Loneliness Studies
An Epilogue

A new month, a new book, a new discussion. Rion Amilcar Scott is our author in the spotlight this month and his current short story collection: The World Doesn’t Require You: Stories, is the book we’ll be discussing. Anyone currently reading it? Intend to read it? Have you read this author before? Any thoughts on his work? Tell us.

Short stories are not at all my favorite genre. However, interlinked stories or those based or associated with a common link such as a town, character or any particular theme that runs throughout the entirety of the book, are favorites of mine.

Scott returns to the fictional town of Cross River, MD, a town we were introduced to in his first successful book of stories Insurrections. Cross River is the largely black settlement founded in 1807 after the only successful slave revolt in the United States. I thoroughly enjoyed that book and looking forward to more fantastic writing in this one.

I’d also like to remind you that if you’re searching for a copy of the book you can still get a free 30 day subscription through Scribd for now. Scott’s book is available through there and in fact it’s what I’m currently using. However, I only have 13 days remaining so I’ll need to read these stories quick and take some notes. My library has a copy but they haven’t pulled the book from their shelves for curbside pickup. You can also try ebooks through whatever system your library uses.

ColumbusReads wrote: "A new month, a new book, a new discussion. Rion Amilcar Scott is our author in the spotlight this month and his current short story collection: The World Doesn’t Require You: Stories, is the book w..."

I'm about four stories in. They're..uh... different? Haven't read his other book you mentioned but I can see how it would provide a back story for this effort. Already its title "insurrections" has been mentioned numerous times.

William wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "A new month, a new book, a new discussion. Rion Amilcar Scott is our author in the spotlight this month and his current short story collection: The World Doesn’t Require You: ..."

William, I’m interested in hearing more about your thoughts on these first couple of stories. I must say, this is quintessential Rion from what I’ve read thus far. His stories can (and have) been described as inventive and imaginative, adventuring beyond your standard mundane story and offering something fresh and original. He may be an acquired taste for some with his style and satire. Some of it dark and brooding. I find it mostly refreshing myself.

David Sherman, the Last Son Of God

What a way to kick off a story collection. This story has a subject I usually enjoy reading about (music) and one I’m not (religion).

The N*gg*r Knockers

What did you think of this story? The idea of him writing his dissertation on basically a child’s game?

I really enjoyed this story although quite sad. Tyrone actually had me fooled as well. I actually looked up the footnote information expecting to locate the book: Hiram Skylark Rollicks, Signifyin’ Revolt: Black Rebellion in the Antebellum South This was my favorite of the first two.

I should finish A Thousand Ships today; so I can resume reading this novel and chime in on the discussion. I read the first story some months ago - apparently got distracted and never returned.

ColumbusReads wrote: "William wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "A new month, a new book, a new discussion. Rion Amilcar Scott is our author in the spotlight this month and his current short story collection: The World Doesn..."

I haven't formed an overall opinion yet. I usually go for the new and strange too. So far though he's hit on some I've loved and some I've hated so we'll see where he lands. I'll comment on the individual stories as we go along.

Mocha Girl wrote: "I should finish A Thousand Ships today; so I can resume reading this novel and chime in on the discussion. I read the first story some months ago - apparently got distracted and never returned."

Ok great. Interested in your thoughts. Did you read Insurrections?

William wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "William wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "A new month, a new book, a new discussion. Rion Amilcar Scott is our author in the spotlight this month and his current short story colle..."

Ok, great.

Mr. Scott is listed among the “short story collections to cure reading slumps” list in Buzzfeed. This book also received a starred review in both Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. As you know, these two are not at all generous with their star ratings and are beholden to no one for the most part.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/...

Both of these stories were published in journals and elsewhere prior to the books publication. For those of you who would like to read and join in the discussion, well, here ya go...

David Sherman, The Last Son of God:
https://midnightbreakfast.com/david-s...

The N*gg*r Knockers:
http://magazine.nytyrant.com/the-nigg...

No, I have not; but it's been on my TBR.

I will be dropping in on this discussion as I have read The World Doesn't Require You: Stories a little while ago.

Yes, this story collection was very inventive. I read one story a day so I could digest what the story was about.

I also read Insurrections a little while before TWDRY. Insurrections did speak to the historical origins of Cross River. I also thought the stories in the first collection was a little more traditional/straight forward then the stories did progress to being more imaginative in the book.

Overall, I liked the stories in TWDRY a little more than Insurrections because of the deepness and maturity of the stories.

For those who have not read Insurrections, here is a little information of Cross River from an author's interview.

http://www.bkmag.com/2016/08/16/cross...

Here is another interview that took place after TWDRY was published:

https://electricliterature.com/rion-a...

Beverly wrote: "For those who have not read Insurrections, here is a little information of Cross River from an author's interview.

http://www.bkmag.com/2016/08/16/cross......"

Thanks for this, Beverly.

In that Electric Literature article, RAS said something that I thought about that was particularly true and poignant and that is where the questioner asks about “ how Toni Morrison created this idea that we could write apologetically about and for Black people.” With both this book and Insurrections, I feel that there are things that only Black folk will get. That some things will literally fly over the head of some people. But, that’s what’s so great about books in that those that are interested in learning more will do the necessary work to learn more. I have to do that with almost every book I read - for the most part.

I saw an online video book review where this reviewer really beat up on Marlon James’, A Brief History Of Seven Killings, because as he said, he didn’t understand Jamaican culture; didn’t understand the dialect; the politics and gangs and the awful ghettos. He said he didn’t identify with any of it and couldn’t understand why it’s won so many major awards. I guffawed; just had me laughing at how ludicrous he sounded.

I knew immediately from the first pages of the story that this author was from the DMV. (District, Maryland, Virginia metro area). While Goodreads lists Cross River, Md as his home he actually grew up in Silver Spring Md just a few miles from where I now reside. His talk of a Riverbeat sound is a quick give away. The DC area is crazy for its homegrown go-go sound and go to great lengths to make sure everyone knows it. The guitarist in the first story "David Sherman" tries mightily to capture the Riverbeat i.e. go-go sound in his band but is unable to and ultimately fired. The ruminations on the differences between the poor, and dogmatic church of one brother versus the prosperity gospel of the other ("This is a business!!) was a humorous scenario. I enjoyed it.

The second story "Nigger Knockers" was a also a good read. I personally had never heard of this game. Not something we did as kids as where I grew up, you'de risk getting shot with those shenanigans. But the supposed PhD dissertation was a nice twist. The real life consequences of childhood games for Black kids (Tamir Rice comes to mind) was the sobering moral of the story.

I'm listening to this collection. The narrator is quite good and that helps me understand the tone of the stories. I enjoyed the first two stories and I'm glad I stopped in and got a bit more background information. I'm going to pick up Insurrections, which is a bit harder to come by. I've been buying a few things from local independent bookstores to help out during this closure and this book may be one of those purchases. I'm going to re-read a bit before commenting, but I was drawn into the style quickly by "David Sherman, The Last Son of God".

I usually wait until after I've read a book before I read any in-depth reviews or author interviews. Just to see if I agree with the general consensus or see how closely I align with an authors intent. But I read this rather lengthy interview with Scott and I'm glad I did. It helps me appreciate and understand these "uh..different..", stories better.

https://lithub.com/the-hard-familiar-...

Thank you ColumbusReads for providing some sources for context. I’m with William, I normally do not read reviews about a book, but for some reason I was interested in what folks had to say about this new author. I’m curious to read Scott’s previous work, Insurrection.

After reading the first two short stories, I am already in awe of the language, dialogue, individual characters, and mostly, the setting of Cross River.

“David Sherman, the Last Son of God” was an interesting twist on where God’s sons end up. The short story was quite magical in its own quirky way. I enjoyed the dialogue that David and God have between each other in scat code. Could it be that God moved through David through music and sound?

“The Nigger Knockers”, has to be one of the most bittersweet short story I’ve read in awhile. There’s this playfulness and inner child that is released when Tyrone accompanies Darius one night. Anyone else wonder why out of the blue Tyrone just pops up? Weird how: Darius was totally against replaying a childhood game, was disinterested in reading the novel from his friend, but ends up wanting to continue their game, even after Immanuel takes a beating that was meant for Tyrone and him. Tyrone took the story most to heart, while Darius completely absolves responsibility or guilt for the brutal beating. Do you think all was “just” or “right” after Tyrone went back and told Immanuel’s uncle the truth? Was Tyrone’s beating equivalent to that of Immanuel’s prison sentence?

Can’t wait to see what the stories have in store for us readers.

William wrote: "...It helps me appreciate and understand these "uh..different..", stories better.

https://lithub.com/the-hard-familiar..."

Oh that's a great interview! My favorite quote: "I think of this book as the first one’s evil twin brother." ! (I plan to read Insurrections soon.) I've really liked the 1st 3 stories of TWDRY.

Also I really liked this story "202 Checkmates" -- that's what convinced me to buy TWDRY for this discussion. :-)

https://electricliterature.com/202-ch...

Today we add two new stories and now have four to discuss:

-The Electric Joy of Service
-The Temple of Practical Arts

In The Electric Joy of Service, you have the first of the robot stories. This is a very short piece, in fact, one of the shortest in the book.

“Rich whites will rush out to buy their own robot slaves.” Robots rising up against their masters in the south. This is where the Paul Beatty The Sellout comparisons are likened. What did you think of this story?

And then in, The Temple of Practical Arts, you have an academic rivalry at Cross River’s historically black Freedman’s University. This story culminated in an ending reminiscent of the 1985 Move bombing in Philadelphia. A lot to extrapolate here. What are your thoughts?

Joelle wrote: "Also I really liked this story "202 Checkmates" -- that's what convinced me to buy TWDRY for this discussion. :-)

https://electricliterature.com/202-ch..."

When I think about this book, this is one of the first stories that comes to mind. I hope people will read it. Thanks, Joelle.

The Electric Joy of Service didn't really work for me . It's as if the author was wielding his satire with a sledgehammer. The robot is LJN1 aka Little Nigger Jim, who talks in dialect, shuffles, has bug eyes and big red lips so absurd even Masters business partners want nothing to do with it. I prefer my satire more precise, like a fish filet knife.
Although that was one hilarious scene in The Temple of Practical Arts when the slapboxing master got his ass whupped in the martial arts championship, the story was just a bit too weird and nonsensical for me.

William wrote: "The Electric Joy of Service didn't really work for me . It's as if the author was wielding his satire with a sledgehammer. The robot is LJN1 aka Little Nigger Jim, who talks in dialect, shuffles, h..."

What I’m finding out so far is that the writing in this book seems to be superior than in INSURRECTIONS, and the stories were better in his debut. The stories in the earlier book were more straightforward and less adventurous but sometimes you can mess up a good thing. I’m still early into this so my views may change but that’s how I feel so far. Also, there seemed to be more references to the DMV in the earlier book.

Also, I get the impression that Scott likes this fictional town he has created and intends to continue with it. Whether that be in short stories, interlinked stories, novellas or novels remains to be seen. What is known is he seems to prefer the less conventional stories to the more strange or bizarre. Here’s from an earlier interview after the book release... I think of this progression from collection to collection like OutKast’s progression from album to album. Their first was mostly traditional hip-hop, with just enough bits of wildness to hint at the weirdness to come.

Adding two more today:

-A Rare and Powerful Employee
Here’s the short story:
Rape culture
http://www.bartlebysnopes.com/ararean...

-Numbers
delves into the fantasy genre. Not exactly my cupa. 1918/crime family/killings

I was struggling to connect to The Temple of Practical Arts so I skipped it for now.

A Rare & Powerful Employee = short & squicky!

I haven’t yet read Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, but this book sounds similar to that. Anyone who read both would like to share and compare/contrast the two?

Two more stories to add. Any thoughts on these two?

A Loudness of Screechers
Massive birds that snatch a ritual human sacrifice from a terrified family—is unsparingly grounded in the grim realities of racism and slavery, state brutality and random violence, misogyny and madness

Mercury in Retrograde
Which finds Jim falling in love, yet in increased conflict with a more advanced new creation called Fiona.

Yelp! As I went to refresh my memory, which ain't what it used to be, about these stories I found the title expired. Seems my library has a 14 day loan period for ebooks as opposed to the 21 days for print. It'll be faded recollections for the rest of the discussion.

I remember being a bit surprised by the violence in Screechers..Collective human sacrifice..seemed a bit out of character with the rest of the stories but it was thought provoking and valuable.

I enjoyed Mercury the most of all his "robot series" of stories. It was the most expansive and detailed and seem less of a small satire and more of a story with plot and characters.

I was hoping that the robot series would continue onward into another short story. I was glad to read “Mercury in Retrograde” and find my favorite protagonist Jim was back at it again. What will be his fate? And that of the rest of the riffs or SORBs?

I’ve been enjoying the series of stories thus far. I dig how Scott comes back to particular stories to tie up loose ends or keep the story rolling. Hope that’s a reoccurring theme throughout the book.

Adding two more today:

On the Occasion of the Death of Freddie Lee
Here’s what the author had to say about Freddie Lee, “ borrows from Animal Farm, which if you asked me, I would tell you that I can’t stand. But I noticed the influence coming through when I was drafting it, so I decided to hold my nose, reread, and lean into that influence a bit. Even though my conscious mind doesn’t like that book, there is something my writing mind won’t let go about it. This isn’t the first time that book has broken into my writing process.”

Slim in Hell
Trying to remember if this was the counterpart to THE TEMPLE OF PRACTICAL ARTS. The MOVE bombing. Anyone recall? Slim, Deity....

Slim = least favorite character. He's compellingly written, but I don't enjoy spending time with him. I didn't finish "The Temple of Practical Arts" but got through "Slim in Hell" (probably because it's shorter). In general I've been impressed by / enjoying the non-Slim stories in the book though! :-)

And we’re finishing up with the final two stories in the collection and an epilogue:

Rolling in my Six-fo
Special Topics in Loneliness Studies
An Epilogue

Ooo, Special Topics in Loneliness Studies starts really intriguingly! (I'm through Part 1: The Fall).

ColumbusReads wrote: "And we’re finishing up with the final two stories in the collection and an epilogue:

Rolling in my Six-fo
Special Topics in Loneliness Studies
An Epilogue"

Is "Rolling..." the story where the 2 guys are riding through Northern Virginia and stop off at whats seems to be an underground railroad stop with a Harriet Tubman like proprietor?

William wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "And we’re finishing up with the final two stories in the collection and an epilogue:

Rolling in my Six-fo
Special Topics in Loneliness Studies
An Epilogue"

Is "Rolling..." t..."

Yep, that weird one. Underground Railroad reenactors.

And if someone prefers I use the expanded title that would be: “Rollin in My Six Fo’—Daa Daa Daa—with All My Niggas Saying: Swing Down Sweet Chariot and Let Me Riiide. Hell Yeah” that’s Mr. George Clinton to you!

On the Occasion of the Death of Freddie Lee: gruesome, haunting imagery. When the cow ate Freddie Lee’s rotting corpse face, then this “image” of either retorted reality of Freddie coming alive and killing the cow!! Do y’all think it was real or imagery?

Slim in Hell: definitely ties back and builds upon both David Sherman, the Last Son of God & The Temple of Practical Arts.

I enjoy the technique that Scott uses to flashback to other stories in the collection.

ColumbusReads wrote: "William wrote: "ColumbusReads wrote: "And we’re finishing up with the final two stories in the collection and an epilogue:

Rolling in my Six-fo
Special Topics in Loneliness Studies
An Epilogue"

I..."

I enjoyed Rollin... Although it did seem to take a page out of Colson Whitehead's retelling of the Underground railroad story. And it did get quite weird and go left in the reunion scene at the end. But overall it was humorous and entertaining.

I wasn't a big fan of the final story and epilogue. It was the longest, clocking in at almost 100 pages. I kept thinking that, I've heard all this before. Satirizing academia seems to be every disgruntled English professor's bailiwick. I suppose that because it was an HBCU that was the target gave it a little flavor. But tension between faculty and administration, over eager coeds, predatory professors, disengaged students..sounds like college life to me.
I do have an unresolved question about it though..were the guy living in the morgue and his (foil, patsy), (sorry I've forgotten their names) one and the same? alter egos?

William wrote: "I wasn't a big fan of the final story and epilogue. It was the longest, clocking in at almost 100 pages. I kept thinking that, I've heard all this before. Satirizing academia seems to be every disg..."

Not sure of the answer to that, William. Although I enjoyed the beginning of this novella, I became a little disinterested 1/2 of the way through it. This story really didn’t need to be this long. I did find this piece about the novella.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...

This writer from Maryland won a prize today. Congrats to Mr. Scott!

https://www.towson.edu/news/2020/tows...

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the conversation. I enjoyed his debut collection Insurrections much more than this one. This one he took more chances and was more ambitious and adventurous but I felt the results were a lot less effective. What were your thoughts? Would you read this author again? What were your favorite selections from this book?