The Only Living Girl on Earth

Written by Charles Yu

Narrated by Jesse Vilinsky

From the genre-defying, critically beloved author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and Interior Chinatown and one of the creative minds behind HBO’s Westworld comes a sweet and searing, unexpected and delightfully absurd vision of life on Earth a thousand years in the future.

Jane is the only person left on the planet, minding the only business left: a gift shop. She wasn’t born on Earth, but her ancestors were; they lived there before the AI in charge of geoengineering failed and the oceans got too hot to sustain the terrestrial food web and before humans took off to colonize other planets.

She’s heading to college on Jupiter in the fall of 3020, so her days on the home planet—selling “American Epoch” postcards, “History: The Poster!” and “War: The Soundtrack” to tourists from the suburbs of Europa—are numbered. But as the looping promotional ad for Earth details, in the planet’s more recent past there was an amusement park, a museum, and even a model American town to draw visitors: all shuttered now, abandoned. When a man and his son crash-land their rocket and need assistance, as well as some diversion, Jane learns that the other attractions on Earth are not so defunct after all and may have taken on a life of their own.

Told, fittingly, in interconnected fragments, The Only Living Girl on Earth captures a place where only fragments of its landscape remain. At once dead serious and playful, recognizable and as otherworldly and unsettling as Yu’s other sci-fi reinventions, it is a cautionary tale about all that we could lose—are losing—by failing to live sustainably and about what we hope to leave behind for future generations. It is also a love letter to what it means to be human, how connected we are to a place and one another, and how we must fight to preserve these gifts. In this, Yu expresses his unique brand of cosmic humanism, that even in the face of dire circumstances, when we feel the most estranged from who and what we are, there is still hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Originals
• Release date: Jan 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094411170

Charles Yu

CHARLES YU is the author of four books, including How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (a New York Times Notable Book and a Time magazine Best Book of the Year). He received the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award and was nominated for two WGA Awards for his work on the HBO series Westworld. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Time, The Atlantic, and Wired, among other publications. His latest novel is Interior Chinatown.

Reviews for The Only Living Girl on Earth

[E. O'Shea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A thought-provoking metaphorical look at life on earth, written in a strong ironic voice.

[Nicole Holm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was super interesting, and very enjoyable to listen to.

[Melissa Grosse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oddly enough I have been wondering lately where my 57 years of life have gone. This book was not what I was expecting! This was another subtle reminder for me to stop blowing the petals off the roses.

[Evan and Caris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a delight, for such a short text had so much contained within.

[Dominique Devaney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful short story. Stirs the imagination on other threads from this and the connotations. Well worth the read

[Betty Bennett · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Stunning work. Future told by a girl who remains on earth when it is being restored to serve as an amusement park for the universe.

[Dustin Kent · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting concept to life after earth. Could be a much more involved story or even taken further into a whole other story.

[Denae Bates · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didn't know what to expect. I was lost in the flip between stories, and even after it's over, I'm not certain what the events were! The reader was really good, I quite enjoyed her voices.

[Dave Ihde · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Didn’t do much for me though it tried to be profound.

[Bethany Gingerich · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like this author's writing style, but wasn't impressed with this book. It was difficult to stay focused. It didn't "grab" my attention.

[Madhav Deshpande · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Surprisingly good concise novella

A short novella about a far-future Earth that's been abandoned by humanity, and now serves as simply a theme park. This had the most amazing world-building, and I wanted to explore this world utterly - but it's so short that there's nothing really beyond that world-building set-up. There was no real plot, it was just an introduction to the world of the future. A pessimistic look at the effects of climate change, that still manages to be uplifting

[muzmuz · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Can’t say much really about it since it’s a very short story but I guess it was okki

[Maureen Cean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great listen, excellent narration. I will be saving this one to listen to again for Yu's commentary on life.

[SocorroBaptista · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found it interesting, very good to read. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Leesa Mckendrick · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Bizarre! I assume the theme park was based on Disneyland. I had 'its a small world' song going though my head the whole time. Probably not something I would usually pick up but it was short so I gave it a go, and I liked it.

[Heather Trow · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really don't know how to rate this because I'm honestly not sure what I read, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. Just maybe I'm too dumb to fathom what the author was trying to tell the reader. I get the vague feeling the message is powerful, but it's lost on me beyond the general premise of humanity dooming our planet into extinction. However, there were moments that made me stop reading and file them away for deeper thought, but my overall enjoyment reading this was low. Maybe I'll re-read it at some point in the future.

[Melissa Helm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There's a sadness to the story, but in a good way. It's told very well by both the author and narrator. I can see this becoming a full length novel because it definitely leaves you wanting to hear more!!

[Danielle Booty · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this story love the concept of this. Recomend a listen too.

[lucie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Actually had chills down my spine and goosebumps and just such an emotional reaction to chapter 4... American, the ride.

It's amazing and seriously thought provoking..
And sad, man it's sad. Don't think it's meant to be, you'll interpret it your own way... I need to listen to this every 5 years or so... It will change the meaning. Wow. Such clever writing.

[Dee cryer · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Stupid nothing to say no story at all just silly

[Jason Anderson · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Terrible design, quality and nothing worth having in public eye

[Thomas Rosenthal · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Pretensions. States the obvious but pompously couches in sci-fi. Yes we’re a grotesquely consumer society destroying ourselves. Duh. Nothing original here.

[GERRY FIORITO · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I don't like audios they put me to sleep. I like to read for myself.