An Available Man: A Novel [S0008]

2012 HCDJ in nice clean condition. When Edward Schuyler, a modest and bookish sixty-two-year-old science teacher, is widowed, he finds himself ambushed by female attention. There are plenty of unattached women around, but a healthy, handsome, available man is a rare and desirable creature. Edward receives phone calls from widows seeking love, or at least lunch, while well-meaning friends try to set him up at dinner parties. Even an attractive married neighbor offers herself to him. The problem is that Edward doesn't feel available. He's still mourning his beloved wife, Bee, and prefers solitude and the familiar routine of work, gardening, and bird-watching. But then his stepchildren surprise him by placing a personal ad in The New York Review of Books on his behalf. Soon the letters flood in, and Edward is torn between his loyalty to Bee's memory and his growing longing for connection. Gradually, reluctantly, he begins dating ("dating after death," as one correspondent puts it), and his encounters are variously startling, comical, and sad. Just when Edward thinks he has the game figured out, a chance meeting proves that love always arrives when it's least expected.

From Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "This charming and deeply emotional book is about grief, betrayal, family, and tapestries. I think tapestries are actually a very good metaphor for this novel because it is the people who thread through our lives, sometimes ending and sometimes being woven back in later, and sometimes new threads need to be added to make a complete picture. This was very touching and I quite enjoyed it."; "This novel has been called humorous by some reviewers, and there were parts that made me laugh out loud, but for most of the book I simply smiled. It's about relationships and the way people of both genders think with their hearts and their genitals as well as their minds. It's about stepchildren and friends of a deceased partner. But mostly its about moving forward after life deals you a horrible blow."; "Sort of sweet. Almost all romance-y books are about people in their teens or twenties. It's refreshing to read one about someone in their 60s"; "An Available Man is a quiet read and is just the ticket for a reader who wants to get to know the characters and visit the scenes as a fly on the wall or bird in the tree."