Asa Baber is actual proof that Playboy magazine really DOES have interesting articles. His most recent book is a collection of his columns from the magazine which explores the minefield of gender issues in a witty, vulgar, brave and sometimes weary masculine voice. If you really want to know what most men are afraid to talk about, read this book. If a women wants her Significant Male Other to view her as truly liberated, she'll buy this book for him!

The stories contained in this slim volume are mostly of the artsy "hey ma, look at my writing!" variety. There are some standouts, however. "Apres Golf" is a hilarious vignette combining golf, poison ivy, and marital infidelity. Complete with a "twist" payoff, it really belongs in an anthology of horror stories, as do one or two other stories here, especially the one which concludes the volume. There are also two okay tales with an Oriental flavor -- the first in the book being by far the better. The real literary quality comes from a story which gives a winking nod to F. Scott Fitzgerald, and especially from "In the Time of the Colonels," a densely crafted, extremely well-written piece dealing with sex, spies and physical as well as spiritual wars. These two pieces, along with the lighter "Apres Golf" are worth the price of the book -- if you find it at a used bookstore,that is