The World Doesnt Require You, Rion Amilcar Scott
The World Doesnt Require You, Rion Amilcar Scott
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The World Doesn't Require You
Stories

Author: Rion Amilcar Scott

Narrator: JD Jackson

Unabridged: 12 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/20/2019

Categories: Fiction, Short Stories


Synopsis

The World Doesn't Require You announces the arrival of a generational talent, as Rion Amilcar Scott shatters rigid genre lines to explore larger themes of religion, violence, and love—all told with sly humor and a dash of magical realism.

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 listener comes to appreciate the intricacy of the world Scott has created—one where fantasy and reality are eternally at war.

About Rion Amilcar Scott

Rion Amilcar Scott's first book, Insurrections, won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. His work has appeared in the Kenyon Review, the Rumpus, PANK, and Confrontation, among other publications.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Roxane on 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......more

Goodreads review by Annie on 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......more

Goodreads review by Andre on 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)......more

Goodreads review by Mara on August 06, 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, alon......more

Goodreads review by Kimberley on 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 c......more