Hello St Marks

COVID-19 has armed us all with a working knowledge of the variables driving pandemic apocalypse plot lines: R0, latency, mortality, vectors. So when Sweeney-Baird introduces the viral protagonist of 'The End of Men' I'm nodding sagely, anticipating global collapse. 100% mortality, 2 day asymptomatic period while infectious, airborne transmission. It only affects men, and 1 in 10 men are immune. Do the math. Sweeney-Baird introduces a swag of characters through which she reports vignettes from the world turned upside down. It's not very well written (the apocalypse has inspired some superb literature, just not in this case), but it's fascinating. Women rule, literally. Some of Sweeney-Baird's predictions are feminist tropes (endometriosis is cured, gun violence plummets) but others are more nuanced: when the vast majority of women have little chance of heterosexual love, marriage and children, sexuality is not pre-determined, but pragmatic.