A genre-smashing collection of short stories, exploring larger themes of race, violence, and love - all told with sly humour.
Welcome to Cross River, Maryland. Established by the leaders of the country's only successful slave revolt in the mid-nineteenth century, its residents thump out a beat that echoes its violent founding. Among them - spanning decades, perspectives, and species - are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be God's last son; Tyrone, a ruthless Ph.D student channelling the insurrections of his forebears through a childhood game; Jim, a Robot Personal Helper desperate to escape the master who enslaves him; and James-my-man, who travels the path of the Underground Railroad year after year. Not to forget the water women who lure men to their watery graves and the screecher birds who cry out for sacrificial flesh... Contemporary and essential, 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 race, violence, and love - all told with sly humour and a dash of magical realism. PRAISE FOR THE WORLD DOESN'T REQUIRE YOU : 'I wandered into Cross River, not knowing a damn thing. Now I'm shuddering, gasping in wonder, reading stories over and over, and doing just about anything so that I never leave' MARLON JAMES 'A musical and visceral explosion. The book makes you laugh even as it stabs. The truth told in a completely new way' NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH 'Flat-out unputdownable' LAURA VAN DEN BERG 'Rion Amilcar Scott doesn't hold back or tiptoe around issues about race. He's the most courageous writer I know; and this collection is an excellent example and significant achievement. He's now made his mark as a force to reckon with' NICOLE DENNIS-BENN 'Surreal, intertextual, and darkly comical ... With breathtaking cruelty and devastating humor, Scott adduces the whole world in one community' NAFISSA THOMPSON-SPIRES
Industry Reviews
'Rion Amilcar Scott proves himself an impressive myth-slayer and fable-maker ... The World Doesn't Require You reminds us that having to fight racism has a strange way of distorting everything one touches' New York Times Book Review.
'A rich, genre-splicing mix of alternate history, magical realism and satire that interrogates issues of race, sexism and where both meet here in the real world' Los Angeles Times.
'Bizarre, tender and brilliantly imagined, The World Doesn't Require You isn't just one of the most inventive books of the year, it's also one of the best' NPR.
'A bleak and beautiful collection of short stories ... Scott demonstrates the skill and long-range vision of a writer we need right now. The World Doesn't Require You requires a commitment from readers, one that will be greatly repaid in literary satisfaction' USA TODAY.
'Surreal, intertextual, and darkly comical stories ... Rion Amilcar Scott writes in the tradition of George Schuyler and Ishmael Reed but with a distinctive wry, playful voice that is wholly his own. With breathtaking cruelty and devastating humor, Scott adduces the whole world in one community' Nafissa Thompson-Spires, author of Heads of the Colored People.
'I wandered into Cross River, not knowing a damn thing. Now I'm shuddering, gasping in wonder, reading stories over and over, and doing just about anything so that I never leave' Marlon James, Booker Prize-winning author of A History of Seven Killings.
'A musical and visceral explosion. The book makes you laugh even as it stabs. The truth told in a completely new way' Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black.
'A bold new talent emerges with this boundary-shattering collection' Esquire.
'Scott joins a growing tradition of African-American authors fusing the folksy dystopian humor of George Saunders with the charged satire of Ishmael Reed and expands on it brilliantly' New York magazine.
'God may have forsaken [these characters], Scott does not. The World Doesn't Require You is full of horrible, ridiculous people, but it's full of grace, too' A.V. Club.
'A major unique literary talent' Entertainment Weekly.
'Flat-out unputdownable' Laura van den Berg, author of The Third Hotel.
'Rion Amilcar Scott doesn't hold back or tiptoe around issues about race. He's the most courageous writer I know; and this collection is an excellent example and significant achievement. He's now made his mark as a force to reckon with' Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Patsy.
'Powerful and revelatory' Salon.
'Weaves incisive criticism, dark humor, and magical realism in profound explorations of belief, love, justice, and violence' BuzzFeed.
'We have so far to go and so little time to get there, Scott seems to say. Maybe spending a few hours in Cross River will help build a bridge. Or blow one up, if need be' Washington Post.
