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lukenotjohn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jimmylorunning's review against another edition
4.0
He has these great set-ups, where the rest of the story just follows, as if he starts his stories with a boulder at the top of a hill, and the rest of the story is almost necessary, you have to watch it roll down the hill. Except sometimes it doesn't exactly go there. He's also really good at voices. Racial, class issues. Injustices abound. I get a sense in some of his stories of this idea of 'there but for the grace of god, go I', in that characters interact with other characters who are in worse shape than them, but mostly because of chance and fate; and that sparks something in them, a kind of reflection that leads to self knowledge.
quincywheeler's review against another edition
4.0
Scott knows how to write a short story that will stick with you, make you think and linger
viralmysteries's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent collection of short stories about the Black experience. I preferred the stories in the later half to the earlier half.
drewsof's review against another edition
4.0
[b:The World Doesn't Require You|41817522|The World Doesn't Require You|Rion Amilcar Scott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565061695l/41817522._SY75_.jpg|65256518] was my introduction to Scott's Cross River, MD and the folks who live there -- and I loved it so much, I had to go back in time to see his earlier collection's take on the town. I think being primed for Scott's talent had me more excited than this collection could carry, because although it is a terrific collection in its own right (a few of the stories could go punch for punch with the ones in the latter book), it is also a younger and less-assured book. Worth reading, for sure, particularly for the stories "Good Times", "Party Animal", and "Razor Bumps" (this last is particularly of note for those who enjoyed "Shape-Ups at Delilah's" in The New Yorker a little while back) and for anybody who wants more of Scott's brilliant imagination.
reggiereads's review against another edition
5.0
Cross River is home to the United States' only successful slave rebellion, and from the first story in this collection, Good Times, all the way to the finale, Three Insurrections, you are captivated.
What stood out to me most about this collection is how inventive it was. Scott successfully plays by his own rules (I'm sure he had plenty of fun doing so!). Like many contemporary authors, he chooses to bypass the use of quotation marks when his characters speak, but that is the smallest part of his inventiveness. Stories like "Party Animal: The Strange and Savage Case of a Once Erudite & Eloquent Young Man" use HILARIOUS footnotes that enhance the "study" we read. You even have interviews from a rapper named L'Ouverture that we end up reading in the another hilarious story called "Razor Bumps."
If you are a fan of the TV show Atlanta, then I can easily see you liking this collection for it's dialogue and the way it amplifies the Black experience through its very wide range of topics. Though this collection features protagonists that tend to be men (mostly) and women who are either older or younger than the Earns, Paper Bois, and Darius' of the world.
I look forward to more of you visiting Cross River in 2019, and I see why the PEN/Robert Bingham Prize was awarded to Mr. Scott in 2017. I have high expectations going into his Sophomore collection, The World Doesn't Require You, which is being brought to us by Liveright in August of 2019, and I am confident those expectations will be reached, if not surpassed.
What stood out to me most about this collection is how inventive it was. Scott successfully plays by his own rules (I'm sure he had plenty of fun doing so!). Like many contemporary authors, he chooses to bypass the use of quotation marks when his characters speak, but that is the smallest part of his inventiveness. Stories like "Party Animal: The Strange and Savage Case of a Once Erudite & Eloquent Young Man" use HILARIOUS footnotes that enhance the "study" we read. You even have interviews from a rapper named L'Ouverture that we end up reading in the another hilarious story called "Razor Bumps."
If you are a fan of the TV show Atlanta, then I can easily see you liking this collection for it's dialogue and the way it amplifies the Black experience through its very wide range of topics. Though this collection features protagonists that tend to be men (mostly) and women who are either older or younger than the Earns, Paper Bois, and Darius' of the world.
I look forward to more of you visiting Cross River in 2019, and I see why the PEN/Robert Bingham Prize was awarded to Mr. Scott in 2017. I have high expectations going into his Sophomore collection, The World Doesn't Require You, which is being brought to us by Liveright in August of 2019, and I am confident those expectations will be reached, if not surpassed.
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