Kristen Roupenian’s debut collection assesses the psyche of modern America and conjures modern day folk stories, writes Chris Bateman

You Know You Want This, Kristen Roupenian’s debut book was released to great excitement earlier this year, following the huge impact of “Cat Person”, her New Yorker #Metoo era short story which chimed with the times, offering a refreshing female perspective on a scandal whose narrative is so often driven by rich, powerful men.  

The ability to shift perspective, turn the camera around and look again from another angle is one of the real joys of You Know You Want This, a collection of twelve short stories. In one of the standout stories, “Biter”, a young woman with a fetish for sinking her teeth into people anguishes over her overwhelming desire to have a chomp on the neck of a particularly handsome male colleague (hilariously, writing out the pros and cons while deliberating over it). Eventually, in an opportune moment, she succumbs to temptation and “like a dog inflicting a death shake” she gets her teeth into him. Immediately she begins to spiral, fearing her impending arrest and incarceration until, with a deft pirouette, the perspective is shifted and an unexpected justice of sorts is delivered for our incisory hero.

This technique is applied a few times to great effect throughout the collection. “Sardines”, for instance, gives us a glimpse into how it feels to be the younger girlfriend of a man who left his wife for her, and now has to host a party with the ex-wife and all her friends. The lightness of touch in these perspective shifts drive Roupenian’s stories on, sometimes taking them down unexpected paths, keeping the reader alert, prepared for another twist.

When it isn’t reporting back from the psyche of modern America, You Know You Want This can also be found conjuring up modern day Grimm-esque fairy tales. The above mentioned “Sardines” winds into a rather gruesome, yet fun, tale of the unexpected in the woods. “The Night Runner” doesn’t take too long to arrive at terror, witchcraft and some doorstep defecation for good measure.

While many of the stories display Roupenian’s obvious talent for dialogue and a keen ability to expose us to some of the darker psychological traits (both sexual and otherwise) of the main characters, there were a couple of stories that didn’t really feel quite as if they belonged in the collection. “Scarred” deals with the fall-out of fantasy becoming flesh and bone reality, and attempts to demonstrate how wicked we can be. Unfortunately, it never fully convinces, and as things spiral out of control the feeling persists that the stakes are being driven higher just for the sake of it. Certainly, for this reviewer, the criticism that the books were intentionally shocking and attention grabbing doesn’t fit, although “Scarred” demonstrates an example of where the narrative could have been played a little cooler.

Roupenian is an exciting new voice in literature. How she gets into the front row of the mind and thought processes of her wonderfully flawed characters is exciting and refreshing. Bringing such characters into a long-form novel, especially with her ability to drive and shift the narrative along at pace while seeing how those themes – desire, sexual politics and that fun, suburban horror – will leave us in no doubt that we do indeed want this.

You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian is published by Jonathan Cape.

Chris Bateman
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