Kristen Roupenian

'If you enjoyed Cat Person, this is for you’ Evening Standard

The truth was that if a woman bit a man in an office environment, there would be a strong assumption that the man had done something to deserve it . . .

From the creator of Cat Person – the first short story to go viral – comes You Know You Want This, a compulsive collection about sex, dating and modern life. These are stories of women’s lives now. They also happen to be horror stories. In some, women endure the horror. In others, they inflict it.

Here are women at work, at home, on dates, at the doctor’s, with their families and with their friends. Here are women grappling with desire, punishment, guilt and anger. These are stories that make you feel fascinated but repelled, scared but delighted, revolted but aroused.

You Know You Want This shows why Kristen Roupenian is the most audacious new voice in American fiction. Funny, furious, sly and explicit, she takes a long, hard look at the messed-up power dynamic between men and women – and messes it up some more.

‘You know you want to read this collection by the author of the viral short story Cat Person –One story in particular, The Good Guy, is chillingly accurate.’ ELLE

ELLE ONE TO WATCH