Mostly True Confessns

Gonick, who writes a column for San Francisco Focus magazine, here presents a collection of essays on life as a single woman today. Laser-sharp, comic and poignant descriptions of the unattached female's search for a male partner should create empathy in readers of both sexes. The book's sections follow a romance through looking for, finding and living with a lover, until the affair breaks up and the bereft woman tries to recover from her angst. Gonick is uncommonly entertaining as a recorder of female ""networking'' (i.e., making contact with promising men) and forays into health clubs and other modern meeting grounds where ideal mates might be waiting. Clearly a good man now is harder than ever to find or keep. First serial to McCall's and New Woman. (May 2)