A bitterly funny meditation on love, by the former editor of the personals column of the Chicago Reader
"SWF 38 sks SM35-50 for LTR. Be nsmk, fit, D/D-free, urb. dwell, no chld."
'In English, this translates as "Single white female, age thirty-eight, seeks single male, thirty-five to fifty years old, for long-term relationship. You must be a nonsmoker, fit, drug- and disease-free, urban dweller, and have no children." See? It's easy. Once you've picked up the basics, it's really very simple. Of course, this is only a start; it's one thing to say what you want, but it's quite another to get what you want. And that's where I come in.'
Welcome to the world of Michael Beaumier, a long-time personals editor who loves his job. Day in, day out, he deals with romance, passion and sex, even if it's someone else's. He's a guardian angel for the desperate singles, cheating spouses, sexual compulsives, prison inmates and people with some rather bizarre fetishes. But Beaumier is no saint -- he has his own relationship foibles. Witty and observant, this is about two of life's big challenges: finding love and learning to live with (or without) it.
