NP - Cat Person

[Mark Kohut]

First New Yorker story to go viral since The Lottery? The history of that
story is fascinating and the virality of this one shows
some of the same "problems".

So, one of my first responses is WHY should men react differently than
women?...
It is about a man and a woman; mostly, since she narrates, about the woman.
Isn't that all of us?

Fiction, even with rich ambiguity, exists independently of
gender-perspective, no?

Do men and women read The Scarlet Letter differently? Moby Dick? Pynchon?
Should they?

So, differing reactions is a sociological thing, yes, and not any real kind
of judgment?

I'm easy. Just let me know that The New Yorker chose it and it hit home to
many and I say it is a first-rate story.
Lemme explicate.....

(He ducks)





On Mon, Dec 11, 2017 at 2:46 PM, Laura Kelber <laurakelber at gmail.com> wrote:

> A very astute, well-written, dead-on accurate rendering of thoughts and
> feelings that most women who've dated have experienced, more or less. But
> that very accuracy renders it less memorable. I gather that men experience
> this story in a different way?
>
> Laura
>
> On Mon, Dec 11, 2017 at 6:53 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Reminds --in immediate diverse responses, including the will-never-die
>> confusion of fiction with non-fiction by many readers--of Shirley
>> Jackson's
>> New Yorker story, The Lottery.
>>
>> John is so right about it being some kind of cultural symbol as well
>> as a short story. I love 'is shit...
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> > On Dec 11, 2017, at 3:07 AM, John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > If you've heard anything about this New Yorker short story (or if you
>> > haven't) it's worth reading now before you develop too many
>> > preconceptions. I've never seen a piece of fiction trend on Twitter,
>> > inspire memes, and turn social media into a place for passionate
>> > literary debate from both pro- and anti- camps. I certainly
>> > flip-flopped many times while reading it myself, but I think it's very
>> > helpful to go in without knowing what to expect. You'll hear people
>> > talking about it soon.
>> > https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person
>> > -
>> > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>
>
>
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