It's difficult to recall how innocent we all were before 9/11/2001. As the year 1999 came to an end, the world worried that a single number-the "2" in "2000"--would bring modern life as we knew it to an end as a result of the problem that came to be known simply as "Y2K." At the same time the world of business seemed to be going mad; the internet bubble had not yet burst; men and women went to work dressed in casual clothes their parents wouldn't have worn to a garage sale; salaries for young lawyers fresh out of school hit $100,000 a year. A View of the Charles is set against this backdrop as four young people, Roderick Tribble, Melinda Pickels, Andrews de Groot and Sally Barnard, mix and match themselves within the confines of Rodman & Ward, an old-line Boston law firm that is on its last legs. John Rodman struggles to preserve the firm his Boston Brahmin father founded, while a rising generation of more aggressive lawyers seeks to grab the reins from him or leave with his clients. At the same time, Rodman must deal with the decline of his long-time partner Ned Ward, who is slipping into senility. A light-hearted romantic comedy, A View of the Charles will recall for the reader the way we were before the end of the last millennium. Also by the author: The Year of the Gerbil: How the Yankees Won (and the Red Sox Lost) the Greatest Pennant Race Ever. "a sharp eye and a fine, dry sense of humor," David Warsh, The Boston Globe "A mere little book about baseball, in the sense that Moby Dick is merely a book about fishing." Etaoin Shrdlu