Scum is a masterfully written book in which the author, by means of a particularly effective form of fragmentation of language, captures the disjunctive experience of a terrified boy. The life of the boy and the life of the sentences are lived entirely in the collision of the will to survive and the impossible demands of an incomprehensible, utterly senseless reality. There are no happy endings in Williams’ books, but far more valuable is the vitality that is generated in his deft and original use of language.‘ - Thomas Ogden