The Last Girlfriend on Earth: And Other Love Stories by Simon Rich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Damn, Simon Rich has written some fun stories.
A few of these, the best, I’d say, I’d heard on the Selected Shorts podcast, read aloud at Symphony Space in New York. My favorite in the bunch is “Unprotected,” the story of a condom, told from the point of view of the condom. “Center of the Universe,” about God’s relationship during the course of Creation is another sparkling story.
There weren’t too many dead notes in the bunch (I didn’t like “Occupy Jen Street” when it was read on Selected Shorts, either, “Children of the Dirt” is a little dull), and most of the stories sing out. Some weren’t quite dead, they were just less entertaining, a little more empty (“Setup,” the story of being set up with a troll was a funny premise but fell a little flat for me, “Victory” was cute but, again, just left me feeling a little hollow, like I’d eaten cotton candy or something).
If you get a chance, go listen to them on the podcast, and grab yourself a copy of the book for other little gems like “When Alex Trebec’s Ex-Wife Appeared ohm Jeopardy” and “NASA Proposal.”