"Cat Person"

[Anonymous]

This short story was published in the New Yorker and lit up the internet this weekend. I read it and immediately texted it to my best friend so we could discuss. It is fascinating how people have responded - ESPECIALLY the contrast in how women and men respond to it.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person

What do you guys think? I will jump in the discussion but don't want to give too much away by saying anything just yet.

[Anonymous]

That was painful to read; I kept waiting for it to end. This is what passes as “good writing” now? What’s the appeal for this story?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That was painful to read; I kept waiting for it to end. This is what passes as “good writing” now? What’s the appeal for this story?

Let me guess: you're a man

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was painful to read; I kept waiting for it to end. This is what passes as “good writing” now? What’s the appeal for this story?

Let me guess: you're a man

NP. Woman here. Horrendous writing. Wtf is this garbage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was painful to read; I kept waiting for it to end. This is what passes as “good writing” now? What’s the appeal for this story?

Let me guess: you're a man

NP. Woman here. Horrendous writing. Wtf is this garbage?

Hint: people liking it is not a necessary attribute for it to be "good writing"

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if I liked it but it was eerily true to life.

[Anonymous]

Not written well but I still enjoyed it....I have definitely been there and it is very very reflective of reality.

OP, what did you and others in your circle think?

[Anonymous]

Unattractive girl starts flirting with unattractive older man. She later finds out fantasy is better than reality and dude is likely too old for her. Sex is awkward, which she expected it to be, and she dumps him. Man, who had been somewhat distant till she starts pursuing him, likely feels betrayed.

Am I missing anything?

[Anonymous]

I hated it. Really, really hated it.

But that doesn't mean it isn't well-written.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unattractive girl starts flirting with unattractive older man. She later finds out fantasy is better than reality and dude is likely too old for her. Sex is awkward, which she expected it to be, and she dumps him. Man, who had been somewhat distant till she starts pursuing him, likely feels betrayed.

Am I missing anything?

Interesting you inferred Margot is unattractive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not written well but I still enjoyed it....I have definitely been there and it is very very reflective of reality.

OP, what did you and others in your circle think?

We felt that it was an uncomfortably accurate portrayal of the way young women make themselves acquiesce to sex they don't really want or try to force attraction to a guy they don't really like because it seems less awful than the alternative which is telling a guy you just aren't attracted and dealing with that fragility, or, as Margot says, precipitating an unpredictable situation by very abruptly backing out of something you either intentionally or unintentionally fueled. The ending was particularly piercing.

[Anonymous]

It is very much the sort of thing that comes out of Creating Writing MFA programs. It ticks every box for the sort of trendy, formulaic pseudo-edgy structure to which most contemporary literary fiction now adheres.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/education/edlife/12edl-12mfa.html?_r=0

[Anonymous]

Aaaaaand the author is ensconced within academia as we speak.

I hate what "the academy" has done to contemporary fiction.

There is a lot to be said for leaving the academic bubble to "live" and write. In a hundred years, scholars will be speaking of the flimsy, formulaic drivel that floods the literary market today.

To a one, every novel I love was created by someone who did NOT spend time in MFA/academia programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unattractive girl starts flirting with unattractive older man. She later finds out fantasy is better than reality and dude is likely too old for her. Sex is awkward, which she expected it to be, and she dumps him. Man, who had been somewhat distant till she starts pursuing him, likely feels betrayed.

Am I missing anything?

What makes you think she was unattractive? I pictured her as being very attractive. Why else would this random dude ask her out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aaaaaand the author is ensconced within academia as we speak.

I hate what "the academy" has done to contemporary fiction.

There is a lot to be said for leaving the academic bubble to "live" and write. In a hundred years, scholars will be speaking of the flimsy, formulaic drivel that floods the literary market today.

To a one, every novel I love was created by someone who did NOT spend time in MFA/academia programs.

Something can be poorly written or "formulaic" and still have merit. Uncle Tom's Cabin has atrocious writing and is just a polemic. But it fairly well incited the Civil War.

This is also not a novel - it's a short story and the criteria for judging should be different. Whether the author is part of academia or not is entirely irrelevant IMO. It's a story that stirs up strong feelings and many people relate to it. It provokes thought.