Will You Read: The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich

January 9, 2013 by Jon.Peters

Will You Read: The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich; Little, Brown/Reagan Arthur, January 22, 2013, 224 pages

Genre: Humor

Summary: This collection of thirty stories by SNL writer Simon Rich delves into that most lampoonable of topics, romance. In one story, “Center of the Universe,” previously published in The New Yorker, God creates the Earth in six days, despite incessant interruptions from a girlfriend: “On the third day, God’s girlfriend came over and said that He’d been acting distant lately. ‘I’m sorry,’ God said. ‘Things have been crazy this week at work.’” Well-known characters in silly circumstances mark Simon Rich’s style, whether they are amorous aliens, Charles Darwin, or even the last girlfriend on Earth.

The Critics Say: “Over the course of 30 stories, repetitive premises and redundant punch lines lead to disappointment. A feeling of déjà vu sinks in…” –Publishers Weekly

Also by This Author: Elliot Allagash, Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations, Free-Range Chickens.

Books Like This: Without Feathers by Woody Allen, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris, No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories by Miranda July.

My Gut Reaction: Simon Rich’s work is always fantastically funny and pretty skewed to boot. The sheer amount of stories in this collection, some of which seem slightly repetitive, may make the collection difficult to get through. Nevertheless, whether or not I finish all thirty, I plan to pick up his new collection. I think humorists too often shy away from love and stick with stock topics like zombies, yoga, and bodily fluids. It’s nice to see a Gen-Y writer take this on.