Sam The Cat & Other Stories

In this beautifully imaginative collection, young people attempt to negotiate the often surreal terrain of childhood and adolescence where family, friends, clergy, and teachers often pose a threat instead of providing safe harbor. At the heart of the collection is the relationship between the meek narrator, his best friend alpha-male Clip, and the near-feral Rogerand#8212;but there are also agoraphobic mothers, gorgeous babysitters from New Zealand, paranoid stoned veterans, and deeply sad older sisters.

Ennis has crafted modern-day captivity narratives, set not at some remote fort, but in the neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Using cinematic imagery and deft characterization, Ennis explores how we often feel confined and yet find ourselves in places we least expect.

"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

"[W]hat opens up before the reader of Matthew Klam...are the enduring comedy and essential sweetness of his work....He does not traffic much in sustained fury or hate -- a difficult accomplishment for comic writers -- and is, oddly, frequently interested in justice." Lorrie Moore, The New York Times Book Review

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.

"The New Yorker" named Klam one of the 20 best young writers in America, and the seven stories that comprise "Sam the Cat" are all the proof readers will need. These stories crackle with humor, intelligence, and style and add up to an outrageously funny debut.

For fans of Kevin Brockmeier or Justin Taylor, a poignant and inventive collection of coming-of-age stories by Tin House and Best New American Voices contributor Sean Ennis.

Matthew Klam lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife. In 1999 he was named one of the twenty best young fiction writers in America by The New Yorker. He is an O. Henry Award winner. His nonfiction has been featured in such places as Harper's and The New York Times Magazine.

From the Hardcover edition.

1.and#160;Going After Lovelyand#8195;1

2.and#160;This Is Suicideand#8195;19

3.and#160;Saint Kevin of Fox Chaseand#8195;35

4.and#160;Darkflipsand#8195;4

5.and#160;This Is Pennypackand#8195;76

6.and#160;Chase Usand#8195;94

7.and#160;The Kidnapped and the Volunteersand#8195;107

8.and#160;This Is Amblerand#8195;123

9.and#160;This Is Recessionand#8195;152

10.and#160;Dependentsand#8195;169

11.and#160;This Is Tomorrowand#8195;180

and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Acknowledgmentsand#8195;201