Separated at Birth 2

In this second volume of ``unlikely look-alikes'' drummed up by the editors of the irrepressibly nasty Spy magazine, a once bracing comic premise has become annoyingly tedious. The problem is simple enough: most of these ``twins'' and ``triplets,'' separated at birth and now paired via photographs with their long-lost sibling(s), barely resemble each other. The various celebrities, politicians and artists pictured here are often matched on the basis of just one similar feature. Singer Carly Simon and basketball star Patrick Ewing, for instance, both possess large, toothy grins. Actress Glenn Close and George Washington share a cool, impassive stare. Making matters worse, the identifying captions accompanying the photos generally are devoid of humor. One caption reads, ``Literary minimalist Raymond Carver and minimally literate Lee Majors?'' Although there are a few gems amid the dross, like the coupling of Bette Davis with the Mean Apple Tree in The Wizard of Oz , this is a lame effort by a creative team that has run out of ideas. (July)