You Know You Want This by Kristin Roupenian (2019)

A first book of stories by the author of the viral sensation, "Cat Person."

Book Review: You Know You Want This is not a bad collection of stories. That's called "damning with faint praise," but this book is too good to bash and few people will begrudge the time it takes to read it. A quick and easy read, it's written in clean, streamlined writers' workshop prose. But Kristin Roupenian is willing to get weird, to venture into horror, to be politely transgressive. All with a pleasant smile like the beginning of a Spielberg film when he's making the viewers think there're no dangers in suburbia. She's willing to go out on a limb, but at times she depends too much on shock value and some (sheltered? older? sensitive?) people will find this disturbing. Some of the stories are a little thin, some seem incomplete, most operate on a single level. But all are appealing, will keep the reader's attention, and all speak to us of our time. The problem with the stories in You Know You Want This, much as the problem with The Casual Vacancy was that it wasn't Harry Potter, is that there is only one "Cat Person" (reviewed here back in December 2017) in the collection. Nothing else contains as many layers. Two or three stories are close ("The Good Guy," "Death Wish") but not quite as complete. Another, "The Mirror, the Bucket, and the Old Thigh Bone," seems incomplete but provides a genuine wtf moment. "Cat Person," published in The New Yorker, created an uproar because it captured the zeitgeist, reflected us back to ourselves, and seemed all too real. An MFA student wouldn't write this but, it "sparked discussion." In retrospect, it read like it came from a cringey Reddit post (as do some of the others), but Roupenian took the story to a level that spoke to our cultural concerns, divides, and fears. Readers want to have their own copy of the story, the publisher wants to get a book out at the right time, and every author wants to be read. It won't make us forget Munro or Carver, but I don't think that's what she's trying to do. A few stories into the book her pattern becomes clear, and it's a good pattern. You Know You Want This shows a lot of potential, Kristin Roupenian has a lot of promise. I don't envy her the pressure as we impatiently wait to read (and I will) what she turns out next.  [3½★]