You Know You Want This

Remember when the world was abuzz over Cat Person, the New Yorker short story that made girls everywhere nod at each other like, “we all know a guy like that?” I was in a fiction class that semester (okay…every semester) and remember talking about it with my class multiple times when doing workshops! So when I finally saw the author’s collection of short stories, You Know You Want This, was coming out, I put it on hold at my library and prepared for a wild ride. I was not disappointed. This book is bleak and dark and all about power and abuse and relationships and wow, wow, wow. I definitely didn’t read them all at once, but I’m intrigued by them none the less.

This book has several short stories, none of which will bring you joy. There’s stories about threesomes gone wrong, creepy “nice guys” who want to stab you with their dick, children’s birthday parties with fantastical elements, skin conditions that will make your skin crawl, et cetera. The stories are really well written. She has a great voice, even if the stories weren’t always my cup of tea. She definitely has that “21st century feminist” writing style, where everything is a metaphor and men are the worst and unredeemable and women have weird powers, etc, but it was interesting nonetheless.  Reading Cat Person again reminded me alarmingly of an ex to the point that I now am a little freaked out, but whatever. To each their own.

Here is a link to Cat Person if you want to check it out before diving into this collection!

I will probably pick up her novel when it eventually comes out!