The Last Girlfriend on Earth

The back cover copy says, 'It doesn't matter if you're a caveman, a time traveller or a regular person: sooner or later, somebody's going to break your heart.'

It is a pretty apt description of the topics Simon Rich explores in The Last Girlfriend on Earth: break-ups, regret, apocalyptic women-less futures and cavemen called Oog with relationship drama, abound.

You can tell Rich is a comedy writer (he's spent time as a staff writer at SNL and is currently working on screenplay for Pixar) because a lot of these short stories read like scripts and play out like sketches from Man Stroke Woman. They are very much from a "guy's" perspective - there are bits where Rich tries to reduce the intricacies of human relationships to computer switchboards - but his writing is good and he achieves a wry kind of sweetness in some stories that's genuinely satisfying. 

His observations about love and lovers are well expressed and deliver on comedic value. The dialogue is particularly believable (although the best stuff are the bits that aren't supposed to be funny). 

With sci-fi, cameos from Greek gods with very modern troubles and the aforementioned cavemen, thrown into the mix, the collection is a kind of wisdom-for-the-ages compilation told in the voice of someone who calls his friends 'Dude.' 

There some awkwardness, some laughs, and once in a while, a moment of true charm. 

Sort of like a guy you might fall for.