Some women fake orgasms. Some men fake whole relationships. In death, Andrea Fox succeeded in uniting her ex-husband, Barry, and her younger lover, Oliver, in the painful pursuit of personal rehabilitation. As an osteopath, Oliver had the touch. But he need his Tuesday night men's group to help exorcise his demons. Barry Fox was a more helpless case. A regular newspaper column kept him in cigarettes and booze, but not in very good spirits. For both men, relationships with women were a problem, but perhaps their central dilemma was the problem of being themselves. Critical, comic and compassionate, Nigel Planner's new novel analyses the darker side of gender anxiety, but also offers hope that the world is not necessarily lost to those who are prepared to change.