I'm Not Scared of You or Anything

The characters in I’m not Scared of You or Anything are invigilators, fake martial arts experts, buskers, competitive pillow fighters, drug runners, and, of course, grad students. This collection of comedic short stories and exploratory texts is the ninth book by the critically acclaimed and award-winning author Jon Paul Fiorentino. Deftly illustrated by Maryanna Hardy, these texts ask important questions, like: How does a mild mannered loser navigate the bureaucratic terrain of exam supervision? What happens when you replace the text of Christian Archie comics with the text of Hélène Cixous? And, most important of all, what would it be like if Mr. Spock was a character in the HBO series GIRLS?

Illustrated throughout by the wonderful, full colour artwork of Maryanna Hardy!

“I’m sure something scares Jon Paul Fiorentino, and maybe it drives him toward the deadpan magic he wields so masterfully in these pages. This is a daring and funny collection.”
—SAM LIPSYTE

“Fiorentino takes the path you’re on in life and sidesteps it just enough to create surreal little worlds, worlds where you can’t help but burst out laughing. A master of dark, comedic timing, he’s perfectly complemented by the delicate, terrifying, and hilarious illustrations of Maryanna Hardy. This book is one of my favourite reads in ages.”
—CHIP ZDARSKY

“I’m Not Scared of You or Anything is a collection for readers bored by more traditional CanLit. It’s a book of outcasts, misfits and underdogs written for outcasts, misfits and underdogs. … Unfiltered, Fiorentino deftly writes what some of us may think from time to time, but would never dare say aloud. He really isn’t scared of anything. … I’m Not Scared of You or Anything is accompanied by more than two dozen illustrations by Montreal artist Maryanna Hardy, whose artwork on the front cover alone is stunning.”
— WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

PRAISE FOR FIORENTINO’S WRITING:

“[Fiorentino’s writing] is the embodiment of an imagination so wild, a wit so sharp and a sense of humour so dark.”
—MONTREAL GAZETTE

“There is no mistaking Fiorentino’s sharp wit and precise vocabulary, which are entirely individual—something far too few writers can claim.”
—QUILL AND QUIRE

“Fiorentino is wickedly funny.”
—THE GLOBE AND MAIL

About Jon Paul Fiorentino (Illustrated by Maryanna Hardy)

Jon Paul Fiorentino is the author ten books including I’m Not Scared of You or Anything, which was shortlisted for the ReLit Award for Short Fiction and Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction, Needs Improvement, which was shortlisted for the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry, and Indexical Elegies, which won the CBC Books “Bookie” Award for Best Book of Poetry. He lives in Montreal where he teaches Creative Writing at Concordia University, is the editor-in-chief of Matrix magazine, and the editor for the Serotonin/Wayside Imprint of Insomniac Press.

Maryanna Hardy has worked as an artist, illustrator and screen printer and has published her work in publications nationally and internationally. She has designed countless gig posters and chapbooks of her drawings, built and ran a screen–printing shop in Montreal, and has painted public murals in Montreal and Toronto. She has most recently exhibited her work through Gallery Pangee and Gallery Youn in Montreal. In 2009 and 2010 she collaborated with the YPF Collective on their large-scale installation at the Osheaga International Music Festival in Montreal. In November 2010, she published a book of her drawings with Conundrum Press called So I’ve Been Told. The book was short-listed for Montreal Expozine’s 2010 Best Canadian Book and was also short-listed for a Doug Wright award for Best Avant-Garde Comic Book. She lives in Montreal.