The Odyssey of Fletcher by Erik Dargitz

A clever dystopian novel with a big splash of humor, The Odyssey of Fletcher by Erik Dargitz is a satirical novel about a socially-awkward young man who finds himself to be the last man on Earth when a global pandemic wipes out the rest of the male population. As he ventures out of his basement sanctuary, Fletcher discovers that the world has changed dramatically, and he is the focus – some women want to worship him, some want to study him, and others want him dead. While this premise could lend itself to insensitivity in the wrong hands, Fletcher is such an engaging protagonist that you can’t help but root for him, and the satire is not so over-the-top as to be unrecognizable, though there is some degree of fantasy fulfillment in the premise. More, Dargitz takes on present-day issues of toxic masculinity and the patriarchy, revealing the backward power structures we currently inhabit through this upside-down society, resulting in a work of speculative satire that is at once far-fetched and believable.