Listen free for 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
"Cat Person" and Other Stories cover art

"Cat Person" and Other Stories

Written 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
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.30

Buy Now for $21.30

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

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

What the critics say

“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,)

What listeners say about "Cat Person" and Other Stories

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Bravo 🙂

Original...... Percutaneous ..... Sensual...quinze mots...avec du rien à voir si tu peux me dire si tu as une idée

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!