Books / Short Stories
Kristen Roupenian, author of viral sensation Cat Person, coming to Waterstones
Kristen Roupenian, author of Cat Person, the short story that became a viral sensation and set social media ablaze, will be appearing at Waterstones next month to discuss her debut short story collection, You Know You Want This.
Cat Person, was published in the December 2017 edition of the New Yorker magazine and became one of the most talked about pieces of fiction in living memory. Endless articles, think pieces, blog posts and social media discussions ensued as the story of a bad date and modern relationships took on a life of its own. The Guardian labelled it “the short story that launched a thousand theories”.
Roupenian admits to being overwhelmed and “annihilated” by the response to the story. Reflecting on the aftermath of the story’s publication for the New Yorker she wrote: “its status as fiction had largely got lost… I got to live the dream and the nightmare of knowing exactly what people thought when they read what I’d written, as well as what they thought about me. A torrent of unvarnished, unpolished opinion was delivered directly to my eyes and my brain. That thousands—and, eventually, millions—of readers had liked the story, identified with it, been affected by it, exhorted others to read it, didn’t make this any easier to take.
is needed now More than ever
“To be faced with all those people thinking and talking about me was like standing alone, at the center of a stadium, while thousands of people screamed at me at the top of their lungs.”
Kristen Roupenian’s short story collection has been receiving great reviews
Roupenian’s soon-to-be-published debut short story collection, You Know You Want This, has been receiving great reviews and looks set to confirm her status as one of the most interesting and thought provoking new writers to arrive on the scene for many years. “Roupenian’s latest tales are sexy, chilling and disturbingly gruesome in finest fairytale tradition… Think Delta of Venus meets Angela Carter meets Bridesmaids.” said Harriet Walker in The Times.
Film director, author and singer, Miranda July, said of the stories: “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.”
Kristen Roupenian’s short story collection, You Know You Want This is published on February 7. She will be in conversation with Sarah Ditum at Waterstones, Bristol Galleries on February 6. For more information, visit http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/events/kristen-roupenian/
Read more: Interview with debut novelist Preti Taneja
Photo: Elisa Roupenian Toha/Jonathan Knowles
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