The story follows the brief relationship of Margot, a twenty-year-old college student, and Robert, a thirty-four-year-old man who is a regular at the movie theater where Margot works. After an exchange at the concession stand, he asks for her number, and they carry on an extensive conversation through texts. Margot finds Robert witty and funny through text, but more awkward and evasive when she tries to see him in person. When Margot returns from visiting home for winter break, she and Robert go on a real date: they see a movie, go to a bar, and then return to Robert’s home and have a consensual but unsatisfying sexual encounter. Margot resolves to tell him she isn’t interested in continuing to see him, but is unsure of how to do it politely but firmly. She eventually does at the urging of her roommate. A month later, she sees Robert while out at a bar with her friends. That night, he texts her repeatedly, his messages at first complimentary but becoming more needy and belligerent, ending with calling her a sexist slur.
Reception
BBC describes the short story as "being shared widely online as social media users discuss how much it relates to modern day dating". The Washington Post describes it as unique among the content in The New Yorker, because it resonated with a younger audience commenting, "for one of the first times, something in the magazine seemed to capture the experience not of print-oriented, older intellectuals but of Millennials." The story is the year's most downloaded fiction published in The New Yorker, and also one of the most read pieces overall of 2017. The Atlantic notes that "The depiction of uncomfortable romance in 'Cat Person' seems to resonate with countless women," and describes it as a "literary adjunct to the latest #MeToo moment." Personal reactions have been largely, but not entirely, along gender lines, and for many readers, it captures what it is like to be a woman in her twenties in 2017, including "the desperate need to be considered polite and nice at all costs." Following the story's success, Roupenian secured a seven figure deal with Scout Press for her debut book, and was the subject of a bidding war in the American market, with offers exceeding $1m. She received a $1.2 million advance for her 2019 book You KnowYou Want This, an anthology series which includes Cat Person.
