Without really trying any harder than ever, Mr. Mead applies his own brand of gamesmanship like spatterpaint to a mild variety of male middle-aged concerns. Among them you'll find sex and the spreading waistband (""remember you can't make love in a three piece suit""; travel and the gap: the conquest of all European languages without knowing any of them; and, for earnest service in a restaurant, slap your Michelin sur la table. And so forth. For that medium-sized smile, illustrated with drawings by Claude.