THE SECOND-TIME SINGLE MAN'S SURVIVAL HANDBOOK

We know that some guys find it tough to leave the womb, but is there a man so totally dependent on the care of a nurturing woman that he doesn't know the size of his own underwear? Well, Goode, Price and their coterie of kibbitzers would seem to have isolated a rare species of human male so helpless after the wife walks out that they don't know how to find an apartment (they're advised to look in the paper, etc.), buy furniture (for this crowd, a mattress on the floor and an old camp trunk will do), wash the dishes (""You don't have to have an automatic dishwasher -- all it takes is a sponge and a bit of soap""), market and prepare meals (we're not talking gourmet, we're talking instant mashed potatoes and canned ready-mades). The authors turn thumbs down on Odd-Couple roommate arrangements -- but recommend a cat or a dog as a love-substitute. They also have suggestions for conversing with new ladies and coping with those cumbersome leftover children. . . . So how do you suppose they got into this mess to begin with?