NO MORE SATURDAY NIGHTS

In this funny, humane story, an unwed father fights to keep his baby and then to cope with the responsibility. Young Mason may be the product of a brief high-school fling, but Tim, 18, won't give him up for adoption, nor is he willing to marry. He takes the mother to court and, against all expectations, wins custody. As if learning to care for a baby isn't challenge enough, Tim has a scholarship to Columbia, and leaves for New York City shortly after Mason's birth. The author really stacks the deck: the naive small-town teen, an only child, his mother years dead, faces the Big Apple with both a new baby and a grade-point average to nurse; on the other hand, Tim does have a modest cash reserve, a circle of uncomprehending but sympathetic acquaintances, and a previously remote father who is suddenly converted into an eager, supportive baby-tender. As usual in a Klein novel, the conversation sounds real, emotions are never simple or unmixed, and life's obstacles turn out to be surmountable. The role reversal is complete--Tim and his father show much more ""maternal"" instinct than any of the women in their lives--but the satire stays gentle; the author demonstrates that the problems and rewards of parenthood are universal. Tim faces the consequences of his choice with courage and (usually) good cheer; readers looking for a soapier view of unwed fatherhood, however, might find Ruby's What Do You Do in Quicksand? more satisfying.