The New Yorker magazine named Matt Klam one of the twenty best young writers in America, and the seven stories that comprise Sam the Cat<...
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Jan 29, 2012
Vanessa
rated it: 
I picked this up second-hand. It was published in 2000. It has 6 rainbow-coloured condoms on the front, still in their wrappers and 3 on the back no longer in their wrappers, possibly used.
For this reason I give it 3 stars. If all six condoms had been used it would have got 5 stars, because 5 is the max.
This gives you an idea of the kind of blokish insights and humour to expect. Is this fashionable? Maybe it was eleven years ago. Maybe not even then.
It's writt More...
For this reason I give it 3 stars. If all six condoms had been used it would have got 5 stars, because 5 is the max.
This gives you an idea of the kind of blokish insights and humour to expect. Is this fashionable? Maybe it was eleven years ago. Maybe not even then.
It's writt More...
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Nov 14, 2011
Daniel
rated it: 
This is a great short story collection I highly recommend, everything about it I found superb: the writing style, the stories, characters, details, voice. The list just keeps going. The more I reflect on it the more I find something I like.
First off, the writing style is brief and yet he writes in a way that tells so much. He writes in prose and then throws in gem details that enable him to skip having to go through all the minor details. A good example of this would be in the story in The More...
First off, the writing style is brief and yet he writes in a way that tells so much. He writes in prose and then throws in gem details that enable him to skip having to go through all the minor details. A good example of this would be in the story in The More...
Apr 22, 2011
John
rated it:
This much-acclaimed collection still may be one that average readers (and not book critics) will either love or hate. It's obvious why Klam has won so much critical phrase. He has a very distinct and unique voice. All of the stories are told in the 1st person except for the final story, "European Wedding," which rotates point of view among the bridge, groom, and an older man who thinks he's the bride's biological father. All of the narrators in the 1st person stories, and the groom in
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Mar 04, 2010
heather
rated it: 
Once review I read here said that it was hard to read straight through, since the narrators sounded similar. I'd have to agree. I know better than to read most short story collections straight through, but I'm laid up right now. Many readers here commented on the misogynistic characters; I guess that is not entirely inaccurate. I saw the narrators as feeling trapped in horrible lives and hating themselves, and it just came out on women--of whom the men expected some sort of salvation. For w
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Jan 14, 2012
Ryan
rated it: 
I read a short story by this guy in my Ecco Anthology of Short Stories and I really liked the kind of loose 1st person style he writes in. He had some really good funny moments in it. So I decided to try out his book (which had received a lot of acclaim).
The book was fun. I kind of wish I could give it a 3 AND a 5 (instead of a 4). It's because when it's good its really engrossing and pulls you in. His voice gets to me because it feels so real, and the stories are pretty juicy. At t More...
The book was fun. I kind of wish I could give it a 3 AND a 5 (instead of a 4). It's because when it's good its really engrossing and pulls you in. His voice gets to me because it feels so real, and the stories are pretty juicy. At t More...
Aug 16, 2007
Ami
rated it:
Despite the fact that this is a collection of short stories that are all basically the same short story--emotional cripple of a man wounds women and doesn't know why--I still really enjoyed reading all of them. And I hope that he writes a novel, since clearly there's a character he has in mind to star.
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Nov 01, 2008
Kamilah
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I used to like Matthew Klam, but this collection didn't age well. I think most of his misogynist protagonists would argue that *I* didn't age well.
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Apr 24, 2009
Paula
rated it:
Finally finished this one, which I started about four years ago. I think the reason it sat so long is because I just didn't like any of the characters. What made me finish it, however (besides the fact that it's been sitting on my shelf for almost four years), is because this actually is a collection of short stories that are complete and independent in and of themselves. And I know that Klam normally is a great writer (of nonfiction, at least).
What drove me crazy (besides the unlika More...
What drove me crazy (besides the unlika More...
Jun 12, 2008
Tessa
rated it:
I read this as part of my American Lit class in college, and wanted to reread it to see if it was still funny to me. It was. But I don't recommend reading all of these stories at once: the narrators are too similar. What I like most about the male characters is that a lot of them could be jerks, but in most cases they reveal themselves as honest and insecure, people who have "I wish I hadn't thought that" thoughts, instead of the boors that some of their thoughts could have made the
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Aug 11, 2009
Deb
rated it:
Absolutely wonderful collection of short stories basically about men and women. It would be catagorized as "guy-lit" if there were such a thing. But the writing is fantastic. You cannot put it down. It's like a collection of NYer short stories by an author you love, which is essentially what it is. Very funny, profane, sexy.
Feb 08, 2010
Steven
rated it:
"Sam the Cat: And Other Stories" reads like a clever love confessional or a type of written therapy on modern love, life and relationships. I found one story in this collection to be eerily familiar to a past relationship of mine reading it was a little therapeutic. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it, I wish I could write like this.
Dec 28, 2009
Magdalene
rated it:
Matt Klam is hilarious! Just when I thought he'd taken matters as far as humanly possible, he took them just that little bit further, leaving me with the sensation of having my scalp removed. Reading this sprightly first book was a liberation.
Dec 17, 2009
Mike
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This was a recommended read that i can't say i recommend. Its a volume of several short stories with the theme of love and relationships and their imperfections. I couldn't identify with the unlikeable characters - especially the crass men Klam seemed to be trying to put forth as 'real'. I found no deeper meanings just wishy washy dialogues, bland inner monologues and an uninteresting style employing snippets of conversation and imagery. Its like a man tried to write the kind of book markete
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Nov 21, 2008
Cyn
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I hate this book because I hated every male character in it. Maybe that was the point since they were intentionally misogynistic but I just couldn't take it
Jan 14, 2010
Dan
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These are all great stories... Klam is not afraid to tell it like it is. Why the hell isn't he writing more? More!!!!
Nov 21, 2008
Russellino
rated it:
"the people closest to me looked as if an asteroid was coming over my shoulder and about to crush them"
Dec 17, 2009
Ravena
rated it:
Torn on this one. On the one hand, it's pretty well written, with original & just the right amount of descriptions. Also, good, realistic portraits of people & their motivations. On the other hand, it's rather depressing, as every single story included here involves at least one dysfunctional relationship as the focal point of the story. It's a different take on a collection of short stories in that each story could, in a way, be seen as a different perspective and/or different point in time
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Jul 13, 2008
Nina
rated it:
One of my fellow KR workshop participants recommended this book to me because of the story "There Should Be a Name for It," which is brutal and devastating in the way that stories about peoples' relationships are brutal and devastating. The rest of the collection was very enjoyable, though, in a similar vein. The first person works well for this writer.
Sep 13, 2010
Davy
rated it:
This book was recommended to me by a former creative writing instructor. No doubt, the prose is snappy, and I'll admit there are some genuinely funny scenes scattered throughout these stories. By the end of the collection, however, the endless parade of asshole protagonists becomes something worse than tedious.
Aug 19, 2008
Nicole
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This book was an easy read and worth it in the end. It was grimly funny, as every male in the stories was dysfunctional. Klam gets the weird intricacies of life down, though, with really genius prose. Recommended.
Dec 06, 2011
Amber
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Disturbing and funny. His stories stirred up all my fears that men are slaves to their drives, but I found comfort in the biological and ethical turmoil his characters faced. Men have souls, it seems.
Dec 17, 2009
Marina
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Fantastic book of linked short stories or essays, if you will. Talented writer. Funny, angry, a little debasing. Full-on honest great funny read. Might turn off some women. Wish he's written something else.
Jul 01, 2007
Katie
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I was exhausted after reading it--kind of felt like I'd been through all the stages of a really destructive relationship. Now I finally know how to write a messed-up male character! Thanks, Matt Klam.
Mar 24, 2008
Manford
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This book is funny as hell. It also delves into American masculinity. GMan used this bad boy in his preface--much to this dismay of his committee. Douchebags.
Dec 17, 2009
Jeremy
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The first story was entertaining and engaging, but after that it is slow and boring story after story about blah relationships.
Nov 18, 2007
Syreeta
rated it:
hilarious! worth it for the second to last story that leads up to the wedding toast.
