The Best Man

Originally published in 1986, Paul Reidinger's first novel concerns three friends in their twenties -- he, she and he -- who find themselves caught up in a design for living that breathes the spirit of the 1980s. David and Katherine meet as undergraduates and soon are best friends. In the ordinary course of events, they would become lovers. But there's a hitch -- he's gay. Adjusting to this with surprising aplomb, they go on as best friends, and after graduation move to San Francisco to share an apartment, and to look for a right man for each of them. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the other, each finds the same Mr. Right in the person of Ross, a third-year law-school student. What follows is a comedy of the new manners that manages to be funny and credible, and an unconventional love story that manages to be credible and very touching.