"Cat Person" and Other Stories

By: Kristen Roupenian

Narrated by: Aubrey Plaza, Jayme Mattler, Molly Pope, Will Damron, Jasmin Savoy Brown - introduction, Emily Tremaine - introduction, Finn Wittrock, Amy Ryan, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Corey Brill, Gibson Frazier

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Featuring a brand-new story

“What’s special about ‘Cat Person,’ and the rest of the stories...is the author’s expert control of language, character, story - her ability to write stories that feel told, and yet so unpretentious and accessible that we think they must be true.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Kristen Roupenian isn’t just an uncannily great writer, she also knows things about the human psyche - things that I always supposed I would learn at some point, but never did.... The world has made a lot more sense since reading this book.” (Miranda July, New York Times best-selling author)

“If you think you know what this collection will be like, you’re wrong. These stories are sharp and perverse, dark and bizarre, unrelenting and utterly bananas. I love them so, so much.” (Carmen Maria Machado, National Book Award finalist and author of Her Body and Other Parties)

A compulsively listenable collection of short stories that explore the complex - and often darkly funny - connections between gender, sex, and power across genres.

Previously published as You Know You Want This, “Cat Person” and Other Stories brilliantly explores the ways in which women are horrifying as much as it captures the horrors that are done to them. Among its stories are a couple who becomes obsessed with their friend hearing them have sex, then seeing them have sex...until they can’t have sex without him; a 10-year-old whose birthday party takes a sinister turn when she wishes for “something mean”; a woman who finds a book of spells half-hidden at the library and summons her heart’s desire: a nameless, naked man; and a self-proclaimed “biter” who dreams of sneaking up behind and sinking her teeth into a green-eyed, long-haired, pink-cheeked coworker.

Spanning a range of genres and topics - from the mundane to the murderous and supernatural - these are stories about sex and punishment, guilt and anger, the pleasure and terror of inflicting and experiencing pain. These stories fascinate and repel, revolt and arouse, scare and delight in equal measure. And, as a collection, they point a finger at you, daring you to feel uncomfortable - or worse, understood - as if to say, “You want this, right? You know you want this.”

©2019 Kristen Roupenian (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

“The stories in You Know You Want This are wildly strange and deeply human. When it comes to the secret hurt and twisted desires that lurk in seemingly mundane encounters between men and women, Kristen Roupenian is a super genius. I loved every single word of this freaky, fantastic book.” (Julie Buntin)

“These transgressive and darkly electric stories announce the arrival of a bold, necessary new voice in American short fiction.” (Claire Vaye Watkins,)

“In an age that needs a wrecking ball, You Know You Want This provides one. This is a raucous, visceral page-turner that tunnels into the heart of relationships gone awry, modern-day miscommunications, and other horrors of being human. Not polite. Suffers no fools. Takes no prisoners. Read it.” (Jeff VanderMeer,)

There Are No Words ....

To adequately describe how thought-provoking, chilling and utterly unnerving these stories are. Reminiscent of Shirley Jackson and perhaps William Golding but with a modern applicability that will leave the listener in a state of shock.

The readers were superb.

Be prepared to suspend your life while you listen. You will not be able to tear yourself away or do anything else till the stories end.

Excellent stories for the mind

I enjoyed listening to these stories a lot. I fell asleep listening to them most nights and the images were striking, memorable, and lovely to chew on for a few days. I had two gripes with it however. One was the writing; at times it felt immature or fan-ficy, and I wished an editor had massaged it more. The other was the underlying connection between all the stories which fetishised weak men or superior women. This would have been fine for a couple or even a few but I personally found it tedious and boring as a motif. Still, the creativity and imagination that the stories inspired was worth these shortcomings.

Engrossing

I really enjoyed the narrators and found that each was well suited to the story they were chosen to narrate. I recommend this work to any misanthropes who find that the mundanity of living is by definition bizarre.

Engrossing

Engrossing tales from the dark but funny side. Not a single story disappoints. Will be looking for more by this author.

Loved it!

I really enjoyed the stories, felt empathy and craved to know what would happen next. Especially Cat person and the story about Ted. The other stories were great as well. I would like Ted's story to continue, I ceel there is more to Ted.

Fantastic stories, expertly written

These stories are fantastic. They are dark and funny and sometimes surreal, or rather, there is some magical realism (reminded me of Aimee Bender a little bit).
Also, she does some interesting stuff with POV in the Good Guy that would be hard for most people to pull off.
some stories are stronger than others, and sometimes a story starts out strong but then has a weak ending - still, overall, it's a great collection and I wish I could write like this.
If you are getting an MFA in creative writing, you will like this book.
Finally, the Narrators are superb.

I needed that...

Tough to come up with original bizarre and twisted stuff. This author nails it. Stories not for the faint of heart. Looking forward to more!

This collection of short stories is magic!

The stories catch the attention in the first word in a magic-realist atmosphere that is familiar while a little freaky. The characters are relatable, even when they reveal their darkest sides. Each one hits the listener and leaves contemplating for a while afterwards.

The writing is excellent on its own but the performances make the whole thing extraordinary. Each reader unique and fits their story perfectly. Every performance is pitch perfect.

I savored them one by one, letting each one expand and settle in my mind before enjoying the next one on another day.

Uncomfortable Womanhood

Loved the entire book, even the discomfort it gave me. Many of the stories are like reading my experiences back when I was confused or naive or simply just young. Others relate far more vaguely, about controlling oneself and others around them or limiting your desires.

Well Balanced and Masterfully Written

A wide range of content with each story wonderfully developed and narrated. An underlying thread of uncomfortable or perverse desires or thoughts runs through each uniting them as a body, but each story is its own original and delightful departure from that theme