Man Seeking Woman (originally published as The Last Girlfriend on Earth) Paperback – Bargain Price, January 13, 2015

On stage, standing at the podium in the Stockholm Concert Hall, Simon Rich was elated. When he first received news that he had received the Nobel Prize in Physics he was a little confused, but he figured if Bob Dylan could get the Nobel Prize in Literature, why not? Simon took his prepared speech out of his tuxedo pocket, unfolded it and and began, “It is such an honor and so humbling to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics.” Just then the emcee standing behind and to the right of him stepped forward and shoved Simon aside. Leaning into the microphone the emcee said, “I am sorry, you misunderstanding. You not receive medal in physics, you receive prize OF PHYSIC. You writing so like constipation this days. Always exaggeration so big it absurdness of hilarious. Always people talk bad English like never have no ESL night class. Always same thing. So we want give you prize this giant economic bottle of laxative. You mind need to set free and release out.” The audience bursts into uproarious laughter as Simon takes the bottle in hand, a bit stupefied. If you, the reader of this review wish to find yourself doubled over with laughter equal to or better than this audience, this book is for you!The next thing he knew, Simon was walking down Sveavagen Street in a daze and wondering when they started the Razzy versions of Nobel Prizes. As he neared Lille Vartan Strait he heard the most gorgeous singing he had ever heard, and they were singing his name! “We love you Simon, oh yes we dooooo….” Coming closer to the water’s edge he could see three beautiful topless women on the shore of Helgeansholmen Island. He was thrilled. Of course he knew that they were Gowanus Sirens and that he was doomed. But it had to be better than what happened when, on exiting the awards hall, in a fit of pique, he chugged the entire bottle of laxative and tossed away the empty bottle with a flick of his wrist. Besides, wading into the deep water was just the thing to rinse out, as best as could be expected, his now soiled pants. If you, the reader of this review, would like to be as thrilled and delighted as if etherial, topless sirens were singing seductively right to you, this is the book for you! Highly recommended!

Had no idea what I was in for, having only seen the series on TV, and never reading any of Rich's other works, but was very pleasantly surprised! The book is a compilation of short stories ranging from a few pages to a few paragraphs, all of which dealing with some sort of quasi romantic (seriously over dramatized) interaction between a man and woman.As outlandish as the stories are I've found myself on more than one occasion relating to the character's thoughts and actions. If you are looking for something that you can skim through with the little downtime you have over the next few months this is the book for you. However, if you're anything like me you won't be able to put it down.

For starters, there's the one whose narrator, believing himself to be a balloon, leaves the factory to move to a drugstore where he comes into the possession of a young boy who carries him in his wallet for a good many years until at last a girl enters the picture and his/its "moment" comes...or does it? And then there's the one that looks into how the game of love would work if its players were subject to being traded, like the pros. And one about God's girlfriend and the role she played in what He did on "the seventh day." And one about the therapist who referred clients to a $40,000-per-visit "girlfriend repair shop." And then there's a story about the Mommy who slept with Santa Claus. And one about what happens when The Invisible Man encounters his girlfriend's new boyfriend. And a story about the guy who started the Occupy movement, who decides to employ that strategy to get the woman he idolizes to go out with him. And the one that delves into that scariest of all days, the day when one's girlfriend demands to know where the relationship is going. Plus 22 more weirdly wild and crazy imaginings from the mind of a twenty-something former Saturday Night Live staff writer, New Yorker contributor and son of former New York Times columnist Frank Rich. If you're looking for witty and wacky short-short stories that raise eyebrows and induce sly smiles of recognition, this collection could be just the thing.

Bite size short stories, mostly from a male perspective but, being a female, I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It's a quick read, finished in one sitting. So freaking funny and identifiable. I've already purchased an extra copy to give to a friend. (Favorite - Children of the Dirt)

I bought this book and read it in one sitting. My only complaint is that the book is so short, because the stories within are so wonderful, witty, and entertaining. The collected short stories range from topics of sex aliens to a scared straight program that takes teens to the suburbs to see where their ways will lead if they stay in their relationships.All in all this book is without a doubt one of my favorite books I've read in years. The television show is good, but this book is great. After this book, I bought several other Simon Rich books and can say that the three short story collections I've read of his are all great.

This is an enjoyable book of brief, creative vignettes. There is no great insight, poignancy, or eloquence in these stories but this book is delightful and lighthearted. It's nice to find love stories that don't take themselves too seriously.

Unlike the show, this book is not an ongoing narrative a single character. However, it does get in the zone of those fantasy tales, paranoia, or absurd thoughts that one goes through when in the different stages of a relationship.A lot of it has to do with break ups. If you're feeling rejected, this might make you smile and laugh off the situation.If you're looking for an easy read that's funny, check this out. Its surprising how much a person can relate to these stories.

I was unimpressed by the former title, "Last Girlfriend on Earth." I picked it up to scoff and found myself loving it. I eventually bought it, but with the new title. Still read, they are short and sweet, but entertaining.

I'm a huge fan of the high-concept short story, and am always on the lookout for alternative explorations of love in all of its pain and glory. This book promises both, and I so wanted to love it. Overall, it's a good light read, ideal for a trip. There's a solid creative premise behind each story, explored succinctly and effectively, if not gracefully. I'd call Rich's writing style punchy rather than witty - there's no revelling in language, no brilliant sentences or startling descriptions, and it does indeed read like a TV script - not necessarily a bad thing.But I'm unimpressed with the number of books, shows and scripts coming out with Nice-Guy-Can't-Make-Good syndrome and this is basically another offer of what's starting to feel like too-trodden territory. At the heart is a middle-class urban guy with a touch of 'loser' mindset who whines about not being able to find girlfriends and score with women, while feeling ambivalent toward, cheating on, and criticising the women who actually want to be with him. Here there's good reason - basically every girl represented, with the exception of the one at the beginning, a first love who is never described, and the one at the end who offers better Relationship Contract Terms, is a soul-eating harpy who wants to manipulate, entrap, and otherwise ruin the life of Nice Guy Main Character. In many of the stories Rich takes this very literally, making women into man-eating sirens, sentence-wielding prison guards, alien sex gods who will only come to Earth to sleep with taken men, and actual trolls to be fought off with sticks on the worst of blind dates. The women who aren't literal embodiments of evil are either clingy, 'pudgy', less-than-porn star quality girls who (horror) attempt long-term relationships with the Nice Guy Main Character, or beauties who withhold, cuckold, fleece, and trade him in for better models. There's really no middle ground, unless you count the girl who attempts relationship counselling with her boyfriend only to be 'fixed' by an electrician who reprogrammes the 'malfunctioning' girl to ensure she never asks him to attend therapy again. The dream of the programmable woman is old territory, bad 80s sci-fi, but without the quirky innocence that made it charming the first time around, it starts to seem downright sinister.Maybe this is the point, and maybe the relentless approach does have an advantage. When Rich's male characters do give in to a moment of non-self-pitying sentimentality, it's all the more disarming. In the stand-out story 'The Present', a time-travelling scientist who realises he can't make his girlfriend happy ponders his final gift to her. It's a moving, mostly blameless story of two lovers who can't find a way together, and it hits where others miss.Most of these short stories are nevertheless fun, and would make great concepts for Match.com ads. But in a book purportedly about love, they start to feel like a queasy assault against something never fully described or understood.

I remembered a few of these from the New Yorker, like Oog and Moog, but it was nice to see them again. I wish I had remembered to listen to the author's radio 4 show but annoyingly I forgot!Anyway, he's very talented and anyone could enjoy this book. It also reminded me to listen to the magnetic fields, I used to like that album!It isn't really stories, more like sketches.

I must admit I am new to this format, however I loved the imagination and the humour. Some stories are so short that some may deem them unfinished. I am glad they were in anyway. Great read!

Almost every story is witty and contains a few laughs, while the worst are barely more than five pages long so the whole thing is quick and easy to read.

Fun