11/12/2018
Roupenian’s solid debut is highlighted by moments of startling insight into the hidden—and often uncomfortable—truths underneath modern relationships. “Cat Person,” which caused a sensation when it was first published in the New Yorker in 2017, is an unrelentingly, almost painfully, honest and perfectly rendered dramatization of the millennial heterosexual relationship and all its attendant anxieties and violences. The other stories, about sex, power, and personhood, range from the highly conceptual—in “Scarred,” a woman magically summons what she thinks is her heart’s desire, before she realizes the sacrifices one must make to truly attain it—to the aggressively realistic—in one of the best stories, “The Good Guy,” readers are immersed into the train wreck thought process of Ted, who is certifiably and pathologically not like other guys, except, of course, that he is actually like so many guys. Another strong entry is “Death Wish,” in which a divorced man living in a motel meets a girl on Tinder; when she shows up at his motel room, she has an unusual and upsetting sexual request for him. Though some stories don’t land and rely too much on explication, there are some stellar moments of pithy clarity: In “Scarred,” upon summoning a way to cheat desire, the protagonist muses, “I had everything that could be wanted. I invented new needs just to satisfy.” This is a promising debut. (Jan.)
"By any metric—craftsmanship, intelligence, addictiveness—Roupenian's stories are excellent."
—NPR.ORG
“What’s special about ‘Cat Person,’ and the rest of the stories in You Know You Want This, 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.”
—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. Some of these things are about men’s minds in particular and I’m pretty sure she’s right. The world has made a lot more sense since reading this book."
—Miranda July, New York Times bestselling author of The First Bad Man
"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
"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, New York Times bestselling author of Annihilation
"These transgressive and darkly electric stories announce the arrival of a bold, new, necessary voice in American short fiction."
—Claire Vaye Watkins, Story Prize-winning “5 Under 35” author of Gold Fame Citrus and Battleborn
"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, author of Marlena
"Although You Know You Want This may be timely in its occasional adjacency to #MeToo, its real canniness comes from apprehending the psychology not only of power, but of power-hunger as, itself, a form of weakness: how people harbor an impulse toward sadistic narcissism, and how little it takes for them to succumb to it."
—The New Republic
“Roupenian’s You Know You Want This is a scintillating new debut collection, with a glorious revenge comedy at its center... 'Cat Person' was our tip-off to pay attention to what Roupenian did next. Now that it’s here, well, you know you want it.”
—Boston Globe
"It's unheard of for a short story to go viral, but 'Cat Person'—through a combination of impossibly sharp writing and impossibly good timing—had done it. A year later, Roupenian's debut collection proves that success wasn't a fluke. The 12 visceral stories here range from uncomfortable to truly horrifying and are often—though not always—focused on the vicious contradictions of being female... Unsettling, memorable, and—maybe perversely—very, very fun."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"No matter where she takes you, Roupenian is a tour guide with an unforgettable voice."
—PEOPLE
"Roupenian has a gift for turning mundane social situations into a haunting scene of catastrophe, and she puts that talent to use here. If you can stomach it, it's a stirring read."
—Marie Claire
"Each story is a refrain of the private indignities that keep you lying awake at night, the things that leave you wondering, Am I a good person, despite wanting what I want? With a wry voice and an all-knowing smirk, Roupenian lances through the sexual anxiety that permeates much of contemporary literature and society. Look at who you are, she dares us. 'Look at what you’ve done.'"
—Paris Review
"Roupenian inked a huge book deal off of her buzzy New Yorker short story 'Cat Person,' and here’s the first result: a collection that provocatively tackles sex and power."
—Entertainment Weekly
"Short stories rarely go viral like Roupenian’s 'Cat Person' did after it was published in The New Yorker last December. It sparked an extensive conversation on social media over its depiction of an uncomfortable sexual relationship. Doubtless many will be looking to the author’s first story collection to see if literary lightning can strike twice."
—HuffPost
"The author of the viral New Yorker story is back with a collection of stories, ranging from the real to the surreal. The stories are united in their theme: the everyday horrors that plague women, as well as the horrors women unleash."
—REFINERY 29
"A collection of (make-your-skin-crawl) short stories by Kristen Roupenian, who wrote The New Yorker's mega-viral 'Cat Person' from December 2017, will be out in January. The collection, titled You Know You Want This, plus an upcoming novel, HBO miniseries and A24 movie deal for Roupenian, means we won't see the last of her (and her uncomfortably real tales) anytime soon."
—PUREWOW
“Although You Know You Want This may be timely in its occasional adjacency to #MeToo, its real canniness comes from apprehending the psychology not only of power, but of power-hunger as, itself, a form of weakness: how people harbor an impulse toward sadistic narcissism, and how little it takes for them to succumb to it.”
—The New Republic
"Roupenian has an ear for dialogue and a knack for satire... Curious readers will be rewarded."
—Booklist
"The hotly anticipated full collection from the writer who set the internet ablaze with 'Cat Person' will surprise some readers—it’s much more heavily weighted towards horror than it is towards realist social dynamics. That is, unless you consider a woman who desperately wants to bite those around her, but particularly this one sexual harassing jerk at her office, as a realist social dynamic . . . which I have to admit I sort of do."
—Literary Hub (lithub.com)
"You probably know Kristen Roupenian from her viral hit New Yorker story, 'Cat Person.' I have heard her referred to as 'the Cat Person Lady' multiple times. What isn’t exactly obvious from that story, but becomes clear as soon as you open her forthcoming collection, is that she’s really a horror writer—and not just 'horror' in the sense of modern dating and gross men, but also in the sense of gruesome acts, terrifying scenarios, and creeping dread. Come January, everyone’s in for a surprise."
—Lit Hub Daily
"Roupenian’s solid debut is highlighted by moments of startling insight into the hidden—and often uncomfortable—truths underneath modern relationships... there are some stellar moments of pithy clarity: In 'Scarred,' upon summoning a way to cheat desire, the protagonist muses, ‘I had everything that could be wanted. I invented new needs just to satisfy.’ This is a promising debut."
—Publishers Weekly
"You Know You Want This is the perfect short story collection to pick up this winter... [it] seems poised to become one of the buzziest books of the season."
—Bookish
"There are lots of surprises awaiting you in Roupenian’s debut short story collection. Highlighting characters who are dark, hilarious, awful, and amazing, these tales will make you shriek with discomfort and enjoyment, daring you to revel in the anti-hero and -heroines’ downright frightening behavior and relationships."
—B&N Reads
"When The New Yorker published Kristen Roupenian's short story 'Cat Person,' the internet went wild. In January, Roupenian will release her first collection of short stories, and you know you need to be the first one to get your hands on a copy."
—Bustle
"In her highly anticipated debut collection, the author behind the viral 'Cat Person' story offers up a host of strange, fascinating, and downright delightful narratives you won't be able to stop talking about. Spanning a range of genres and topics, it is equal parts dark, uncomfortable, and funny."
—Bustle
"Readers who are looking for more uncomfortably realistic renderings of awkward romantic encounters won’t be disappointed, but this collection is so much more than that, offering an array of biting (sometimes literally!) looks at the ways our most hidden perversions manifest in our lives. It’s a razor-sharp, often ruthless, never less than relentless examination of the way we are now. Scary, right? But you know you want it."
—NYLON
"Exceptionally compelling; I love the way these stories create a world that is simultaneously familiar and deeply unsettling, showing—in strange and surprising ways—the interplay of disgust, fear and desire. Images from the book keep coming back to me: its narratives feel both mythical and completely modern."
—Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start From
★ 2018-10-15
When Roupenian's "Cat Person" was published in the New Yorker, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon. It's unheard of for a short story to go viral, but "Cat Person"—through a combination of impossibly sharp writing and impossibly good timing—had done it. A year later, Roupenian's debut collection proves that success wasn't a fluke.
The 12 visceral stories here range from uncomfortable to truly horrifying and are often—though not always—focused on the vicious contradictions of being female. Roupenian's women are as terrified as they are terrifying; sometimes the violence comes to fruition and sometimes it doesn't, but the possibility is always there, bubbling under the surface. In "Bad Boy," which opens the book, a woman and her boyfriend take in a stray friend after a breakup and begin incorporating him into their sex life in increasingly sadistic ways. In "Sardines," an 11-year-old girl—who, unlike most fictional 11-year-old girls, is depicted entirely without sentiment, big-nosed and meaty-breathed—makes a wish "for something mean" on a defective birthday candle and creates a monster. "Cat Person" and then "The Good Guy," which follows it, both its companion and its opposite, are the heart of the collection—both chronologically and in spirit—as complementary investigations of gender and power. (Roupenian's depictions of the dynamics between men and woman are infinitely nuanced, but the very short version is: It's real messed up.) "Cat Person" is told from the perspective of Margot, a college student, who's on a date with Robert, who is 34 and makes her feel at once very powerful and very small. "The Good Guy" follows Ted, a nice guy—who is not Robert but also not so different from him—whose relationships with women could be characterized as a dance of mutual contempt. (It is, of course, more complicated.) Some of the stories are drawn, with startling and nauseating detail, from life; others veer toward magical realism or nightmares. All of them, though, are united by Roupenian's voice, which is unsparing and unpretentious and arrestingly straightforward, so that it feels, at times, less like you are reading and more like she is simply thinking for you.
Unsettling, memorable, and—maybe perversely—very, very fun.
