THE LONELY GUY'S BOOK OF LIFE

Dedicated ""To BJF/This one's for you, fella,"" this one's for anyone, for funny. For awhile. You don't have to be lonely to read it; maybe you just need advice--like this, from the obligatory chapter on running: ""If you wear shorts, make sure they are trim and not the bouffant type. Don't wear shorts at all if you have white hairy legs."" According to the Introduction even a woman can be a Lonely Guy (""Female stand-up comics, for example""), and ""All of Canada may be a Lonely Guy,"" but ""Woody Allen is doubtful. We're not talking about shy here. That's another book."" However much this sort of how-to-take-your-lumps-and-like-it thing addresses the rue endemic to one population, the target here seems to be a newly-divorced mate nebbish, the kind who needs not only empathy but also food tips. Like the word on veal, ""the quintessential Lonely Guy meat. . . . It's so wan and Kierkegaardian."" To get the most out of Friedman, you do have to share his frame of reference.