So freakin ready for Cat Person part 2, 3, and more??
Remember being traumatized yet also dazzled (traumazzled??) by “Cat Person,” aka THE New Yorker short story from two Decembers ago?? Well, author Kristen Roupenian’s book of short stories is coming out next week, and if this absolutely mind-fuck of a first story, titled “The Good Guy,” published on Medium is any indication, the entire book is going to be BUCK WILD and full of more squeamish truths about the complexities of modern dating than a million trend pieces could ever attempt to describe.
If your appetite for Roupenian’s work is raging like ours, you should know that she’s just getting started, as ELLE reported last month:
In a little over a week, the New York Times reported that she had received a seven-figure, two-book deal from Scout Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster (a novel is next). HBO bought the story collection to develop into a drama series, hiring Carly Wray and Lila Byock, former writers for The Leftovers, to write and executive produce. A24, the film and TV studio behind some of the most critically acclaimed movies of the last few years (Lady Bird, Hereditary), acquired Roupenian’s screenplay for Bodies Bodies Bodies, a slasher film in the early stages of development.
Unadulterated excitement for a new genre of creepy modern relationship content aside, Roupenian’s trajectory is also v. interesting to note: the viral article → book deal → HBO deal → movie deal w/a boutique production company path is so very much in right now (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and Marie Kondo are two recent [and women-centric] phenomena that have taken similar paths). Interesting implications for creatives today — sure, you’ve got to produce some fantastic writing, but maybe also keep in mind how telegenic it could be, too?