The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Hamid, Mohsin. The Last White Man. New York: Riverhead Books, 2022.

The Last White Man opens with Part I, in which a young white man named Anders wakes up in the morning to discover that his skin has become dark. He is shocked and angry and nervous about venturing into the outside world. When he does, he believes people are staring at him in a hostile manner. He wishes he could speak to his mother, who passed away several years earlier.

Anders calls Oona, the young woman he has been casually seeing. Oona has recently returned to her hometown after her twin brother's death and she is staying with her mother. Anders tells Oona about his skin color and she feels overwhelmed, having enough emotional turmoil of her own to contend with. Nevertheless, she goes to Anders' house and comforts him. They make love and Oona leaves in the middle of the night. She receives a text message from Anders in the morning, which she ignores. Oona's mother tells Oona she has seen stories online about white people becoming dark-skinned. Since the deaths of her husband and son, Oona's mother has been reading white supremacist content online.

Anders goes to see his father, who has racist views. Anders' father cries when he sees Anders' changed appearance, but he still loves his son, who is so like his deceased wife. Meanwhile, Oona begins hearing reports on the news of white people becoming dark-skinned, and she feels uneasy about the changing world. She calls Anders.

Anders returns to work as a trainer at a gym. His boss tells him that if his own skin color changed, he would kill himself. Oona goes to her job as a yoga instructor and feels uncertain about what direction to take in her life. Feeling confused, she goes to see Anders after work, as he makes her feel “understood” (42). She tells Anders a story about catching tadpoles in a pond with her brother when she was a child. After telling the story, she goes home.

More and more white people in the town where Oona and Anders live become dark-skinned. One man kills himself. Oona's mother reads white supremacist content online that implies some sort of racial reckoning is coming, and she encourages Oona to help her buy supplies in bulk. Anders and Oona talk about these developments and Anders tells Oona about a dark-skinned cleaner who works at the gym who he has treated in a patronizing manner in the past.

In Part II, there is a series of violent racially-motivated incidents in the town. Anders visits his father, who appears to be very ill. Anders' father gives Anders some supplies and a rifle. Oona realizes that she is beginning to feel closer to Anders, like their relationship is more than just sex. There is a fight between a white man and a dark-skinned man at Anders' gym. Later, Oona and Anders discuss death. Soon after, white supremacists begin rioting in the town.

Anders feels afraid to leave his home, while Oona and her mother argue about racism. One day, three white men come to Anders' door. They seem intent on violence, but when they see Anders' rifle, they leave. Afterward, Anders goes to his father's house. His father is determined to keep Anders safe, even as his health declines dramatically. The riots begin to die down. Oona buys makeup online and puts it on to make herself look dark-skinned temporarily.

Anders' father grows closer to death. Anders visits Oona one night and they have sex. Afterward, Oona's mother sees them in bed together and vomits at the sight of her daughter with a dark-skinned man. Soon after, Oona's skin becomes dark. She feels sad momentarily, but then realizes she is the same person inside.

In Part III, Oona's mother struggles to accept her changed daughter. Almost everyone in town has become dark-skinned, and businesses have begun reopening after the riots. Oona's mother is one of the last people in town to change. She is distressed at the change, but ultimately accepts it. Anders' father dies, and Oona is supportive of Anders in his grief. At the funeral, Anders' father is the only person who has not changed — “the last white man” (148). Oona's mother gradually stops reading white supremacist content online. Anders and Oona visit the cemetery where Anders' father is buried on weekends and reflect on their mutual experiences with loss.

Oona's mother visits Anders and offers her condolences for the loss of his father. She takes a photo of Oona and Anders together and posts it on her social media account. Oona goes to the DMV, where she runs into her brother's ex-boyfriend. The two discuss how much they both loved her brother. At the gym, Anders offers to train the dark-skinned cleaner, but the cleaner declares that he would rather have a pay raise.

Oona moves into Anders' father's house with Anders and they redecorate to make the house their own. In the years that follow, they have a daughter. Oona's mother sometimes reminisces to her granddaughter about being white, until her granddaughter asks her to stop, at which point she never mentions it again. Anders, Oona, and their daughter are a happy family.