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Don't Eat Cat
by
Jess Walter
In this brilliantly entertaining send-up of zombie lit, Edgar Award winner and National Book Award finalist Jess Walter offers a twist on America’s favorite monster: You don’t have to be dead to be a zombie. Walter creates a postapocalyptic nightmare that is as sidesplitting as it is moving—and all the more damning because it’s so recognizable.
Set in the year 2040, amid ro...more
Set in the year 2040, amid ro...more
Kindle Edition, 22 pages
Published
March 28th 2012
by Byliner Inc.
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the book isn't about zombie cats (sadly), but that is a cute picture, and it's difficult for me to write a review for a 20-page story unless it involves some sort of dirrrty monster sex.
this is a lightweight little zombie fantasy/regret-and-redemption piece.
it's too short to have impressive world-building or super-inventive mythology twists, but it isn't bad - it has moments of humor and moments of pathos, and moments of action.
and that's more than most people have in their 20 page short stori...more
WHY NOT EAT CAT CAT GOOD BESIDES HAVE TO EAT SOMETHING DURING LUNCH WAS GOING TO DISTRACT SELF READING KINDLE SINGLE ABOUT ZOMBIES BY SNOOTY LITERARY WRITER BUT ONLY TOOK 15 MINUTES WAS VERY SHORT AND NOT ENOUGH STORY TO GO ALONG WITH INTERESTING WORLD CREATED WHERE CLUB DRUG CAUSES ZOMBISM STILL SOME SAD PEOPLE TAKE WILLINGLY TRY TO PARSE METAPHOR BUT NO SUCCESS AND SOME PARTS NOT SO FUNNY LIKE FAKE TECH SPEAK AND JOKE THAT IN FUTURE BANKS ALL OWNED BY FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS HA HA NO WAIT DON'T...more
"Don't Eat Cat," currently available on iBooks and Kindle, is just amazing and made me go in search of other fiction (non-zombie fiction) by Jess Walter, all of which (so far) is just as good.
In "Don't Eat Cat" zombies are a metaphor for drug addicts more than anything else and they only can function in a way that gives new meaning to "low level entry job."
Zombies or not, though, the writing is where it's at. One of my favorite lines goes something like this: "But THIS is the Apocalypse? F**k yo...more
Bare in mind - I reserve one star ratings for works that I find morally offensive. This one is just bad.
I am beginning to feel like a broken record and possibly a ridiculous one, but most kindle singles are too short. I enjoy a good novella and long magazine piece, but the 50-pager must be a difficult length to master. Most of the kindle singles I've read could have been fleshed out to novella-length and been the better for it. "Don't Eat Cat" was my first foray into Kindle-single fiction, and...more
I am beginning to feel like a broken record and possibly a ridiculous one, but most kindle singles are too short. I enjoy a good novella and long magazine piece, but the 50-pager must be a difficult length to master. Most of the kindle singles I've read could have been fleshed out to novella-length and been the better for it. "Don't Eat Cat" was my first foray into Kindle-single fiction, and...more
Set in the near (dystopian) future, zombies live alongside nonbies (normal people) in the United States as the borders were closed to immigrants and there was labour shortage. People became zombies via a club drug that was willingly taken. Is the future so terrible that taking drugs to become a zombie is a viable alternative? Apparently yes, and when Owen's girlfriend Marci breaks up with him and becomes one of them, he sets off to get her back.
Jess Walter, the excellent author of "Citizen Vince...more
Jess Walter, the excellent author of "Citizen Vince...more
I saw Jess Walter at the Get Lit! literary festival in Spokane, Washington, where he read from this short story. In the discussion afterwards, he and Colson Whitehead, author of Zone One, were asked what they thought caused all the recent interest in zombie stories. Jess replied that he had actually written this story as a way of trying to understand the zombie phenomenon. I personally think that with this story, he's spot-on to why brainless zombie stories are so relatable in our society right...more
I always find it a bit funny when the summary is so long like this one is when the piece is a bit over 20 pages. I guess they need to give extra reasons to purchase the short story since it isn’t free but is so short? Anyway, Don’t Eat Cat is a mixture of humor and a harsh view of reality. Zombies being a clear metaphor for anyone from druggies (the most obvious example) to the lazy and unmotivated (if you read between the lines/look deeper). The short plot is the selling point in this piece as...more
The allegory of Western developed nations in the near future being divided into zombies (the drug addicts, underachievers, and other "non-contributors" to the economy) and the non-zombies (the ambitious, over-worked, money-obsessed upper/middle classes) is perfect. In typical politically correct fashion, the non-zombies are told not to "call them zombies" even though their condescension is obvious. Even if you have the strength of character in an over-polluted, over-crowded, inflation-riddled so...more
I loved this story. I dug that it was short, to the point, funny, and had some nice thinking value inside it. I'm not sure what the author intended for us to relate the story to, but i have come up with a few ideas that seem to fit. Without giving anything away, the characters all seem very human and very real inside of this "don't call them zombies" context. The future aspect of this story is also important i think, because many of the small details seem to fit into a possibly overpopulated and...more
I hate not having a book with me. I used to keep a book on my phone for reading in cafes or while waiting to meet friends. That book would take a month or two to read.
The Byliner Originals series take about a half hour or so to read and are perfect for keeping on my phone for such occasions.
Jess Walters (whose book Citizen Vince is among my favourites) has written a fluffy little zombie story that's perfect for passing the time.
Walters writes great characters and this story is more about wittin...more
The Byliner Originals series take about a half hour or so to read and are perfect for keeping on my phone for such occasions.
Jess Walters (whose book Citizen Vince is among my favourites) has written a fluffy little zombie story that's perfect for passing the time.
Walters writes great characters and this story is more about wittin...more
Very short, but I guess that's what you get from a Kindle Single. It starts well w/a compelling dive into this future world filled with zombies you're not supposed to call zombies, but just as you start to understand the ground rules, the story abruptly ends. This is what short stories do, so on the terms of a sort of E.A. Poe definition of a good work of fiction, this succeeds well. It's humorous and the narrator has a distinctive voice an perspective. Recommended, but only three stars bc it ju...more
A clever little story (novelette) about a world inhabited by people who overuse a drug that turns them into oversexed, very hungry zombies (which we are always being told they should not be called--it is wrong to call them zombies, okay?) who seem to represent a portion of our population who has withdrawn from the productive/interactive paths of society. The main character is sick of all the zombies, but his bitterness is really entrenched over the betrayal of a friend who chose to go 'zombie'.
I...more
I...more
So this was a very short story but definitely worth the 20-30 minutes it took to read it.
Zombies do exist! Well they're actually strung out and addicted junkies but hey that's more realistic than full on apocalyptic dead people coming back to life kind of stuff.
One thing I love about this story was how the author combined financial and fast food industries as the future of services. This alone is such a great social commentary. Money and food rule most people's lives and it would just make sense...more
Zombies do exist! Well they're actually strung out and addicted junkies but hey that's more realistic than full on apocalyptic dead people coming back to life kind of stuff.
One thing I love about this story was how the author combined financial and fast food industries as the future of services. This alone is such a great social commentary. Money and food rule most people's lives and it would just make sense...more
I felt like a liar clicking "read," but I just heard this at Jess Walter's reading. But, man. This guy can write. He takes the old zombie story, an archetype that he is admittedly not a fan of, and spins it into a short story criticizing the popular view of the world. Basically, the world isn't going to sh*t, it is sh*t.
Every bit of Jess Walter's style is present in this writing, from the dark humor to the Bambi's mom eat-your-heart-out tragedy. In twenty-six pages.
Every bit of Jess Walter's style is present in this writing, from the dark humor to the Bambi's mom eat-your-heart-out tragedy. In twenty-six pages.
Alt-zombie short story set in a dystopic future (like there's any other kind)where a club drug turns people into zombies (including the narrator's girlfriend), but not so bad that they can't live among us and hold down a job at Starbucks. Even though I'm more of a zombie traditionalist I enjoyed this and wouldn't mind reading a book-length story set in this world.
My only complaint is that the use of corporate conglomorates (such as KFC/Bank of America) is overplayed in this type of fiction and...more
My only complaint is that the use of corporate conglomorates (such as KFC/Bank of America) is overplayed in this type of fiction and...more
This is a really cool Sci/Fi short. Set in the near future, it is a narrative about the experiences of a person going about their day in a seriously transformed world.
I liked how the details of this future were so insane, but with recent world events, in reach of reality.
The personal story woven in to this bleak future was very well done.
Being a short story, this is an extremely short read. I would definitely read this author again!
I liked how the details of this future were so insane, but with recent world events, in reach of reality.
The personal story woven in to this bleak future was very well done.
Being a short story, this is an extremely short read. I would definitely read this author again!
There has been a spate lately of very good zombie books and this is one of them, albeit a short one. What makes it so good? Simply put, a nice little twist which turns it from a horror book into something a little deeper, something which asks questions about what it is to be alive and what it is to feel, or more specifically, what it means to opt out of feeling.
A quick read, well worth it. And cheap too...
A quick read, well worth it. And cheap too...
The first chapter of this short is absolutely hilarious. The story is a satisfying take on the zombie apocalypse with a tight resolution, but nothing ever lives up to the mirth of that first chapter. And, it must be said, it is zombies we're talking about. That story device isn't old at all.
But, as stories-that-are-intended-to-be-read-in-one-sitting go, this is a highly engaging and entertaining one.
But, as stories-that-are-intended-to-be-read-in-one-sitting go, this is a highly engaging and entertaining one.
Jess Walter was a finalist for the National Book Award and a winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award. This is astonishing to me considering what it was that I just read. Don't Eat Cat is Walter's first zombie story. I hope it's his last. I really have nothing else to say about this book other than that I'm glad that it was so short. Read into that what you will.
This is not a great book I don't think. A novella. Zombie lit, which just itself makes it interesting. It won't take you long to read. There are some funny moments. Got the feeling that Jess Walter, usually a touching and gently good author was out for some fun one afternoon and this was the result. You won't waste too much time and it is funny in parts
Like many of the others who have read this single, I felt as though the concept was rich enough to birth a far more in-depth exploration. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the humor and I found the philosophical ramifications of the ending to be fairly thought-provoking. Definitely worth the price, even though it is an extremely short/quick read.
Wavers between funny send-up of the future of unchecked corporatism and a underwhelming romance. Sadly ends on the sentimental side -- attempting to inject some sort of poignancy into the story of a man with a zombie girlfriend is an odd misstep in an otherwise irreverent tale.
I REALLY wanted to like this book. Sounded like the perfect ironic zombie story, and even had a cat in the title but... If I am truthful to myself I have to say it was a very bleh. Too shallow and abrupt. Wish the author could have lead the themes in a different direction.
Very short, but a few good laughs. One very good thought about the nature of our own mortality in regards to our perception of the rest of the world. A few Neal Stephenson/David Foster Wallace like jabs at the future.
Really, quite a bit there for only 20 or so pages.
Really, quite a bit there for only 20 or so pages.
I enjoy writing that can make me laugh as well as think. That's what this story did. The first few pages make you think this is a clever twist on the classic zombie tale, but digging deeper you realize this is a human tale of love and loss.
A fun, quick read (26p) that takes the zombie origin story to a new place. It's best if you don't read anything about it in advance, because even a paragraph description is bound to give too much away. Seriously, it's like a dollar. Buy it already.
Short story. People are living with zombies. They are even working as baristas! Usually they only eat small creatures like cats. Sometimes things go a bit crazy though and cats don't quite satiate the hunger. It's a short story. Fun read.
This is a pint-sized, but emotionally charged love story that takes place in a dystopic, zombie future. The only other Jess Walter I've read was 'Beautiful Ruins,' which was wonderful, but really different from this story.
I enjoyed this short read but it left me wanting more. What happened to Owen and Marci?! I'm sure the author meant to leave the rest to imagination, but I would have liked to know how the story ended for them...
A very well done short story. If you want a new twist on the zombie theme, then check this one out. It's only 22 pages but interesting.
I used one of the Kindle ebook lending sites to borrow it.
I used one of the Kindle ebook lending sites to borrow it.
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Jess Walter is the author of five novels and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages and his essays, short fiction, criticism and journalism have been widely published, in Details, Playboy, Newsweek, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe among many others.
His books:
Beautiful Ruins, 2012.
The Financial Lives of the Poets, 2009.
The Zero, a...more
More about Jess Walter...
His books:
Beautiful Ruins, 2012.
The Financial Lives of the Poets, 2009.
The Zero, a...more
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02. April, 05:48 Uhr
03. April, 10:52 Uhr