Sam the Cat

and Other Stories

By: Matthew Klam

Narrated by: Matthew Klam

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 are all the proof we need.

Knowing, perceptive, and wickedly funny, Matt Klam loves his characters but spares them nothing: the swaggering womanizer Sam falls in love with a woman across a crowded room who, upon closer inspection, turns out to be not quite what he expected; a self-doubting young professional attends the posh wedding of his successful friend and delivers a disastrous toast; the chicken one man's girlfriend is preparing for dinner comes to embody the darkly corrosive element in their relationship. These stories crackle with humor, intelligence and style and add up to an outrageously funny, unforgettable debut.

Critic reviews

“A riveting, honest and unvarnished voice that sounds like no one else’s.”–Los Angeles Times

“Repeatedly nails the fragile braggadocio of the modern American male.... Each story takes on a memorable life of its own, thanks to Klam’s...ability to find the perfect word or phrase.”–San Francisco Chronicle

“A knockout. [Klam] seems to have tapped right into the heads of certain men, none of whom you want courting your daughter.”–Portland Oregonian

Great reading by the writer.

I had just finished reading his long awaited debut novel, Who is Rich, discovered Sam the Cat thereafter and had to check it out, because I was so pleased with his novel. I cannot recall the last time I so enjoyed a writer reading (via Audible) his or her own work. Here Matt Klam is pitch perfect, in pacing, pausing and emphasis. He speaks with a resonance that is quite pleasant too. Not many novelist can pull this off, with their own tongue, outside of their head, let alone in a studio. And I can see why these stories of "transgressive sex" (his phrase) written with brutal poignant honesty made such a splash when they first came out. Well, they are still making waves in 2017. If this is your cup tea, ala Updike, Roth, and so many others I can think at the moment, you'll dig Sam the Cat. And a cat indeed he is....