FICTION

50 by Avery Corman (Simon & Schuster: $17.95; 254 pp.). In this latest novel from the author of the bittersweet sagas of “Oh God!� “Kramer vs. Kramer� and “The Old Neighborhood,� protagonist Doug Gardner is stumbling toward his 50th birthday, draped in the robes of a contemporary Job.

Divorced and depressed, sports writer Gardner is trying to cope with the success and remarriage of his ex; the wooing away of his children, and dog, by her new megabucks mate; low scores in the fickle dating game; the inability to seize opportunity, and love; an ailing father; producing three columns a week; and the takeover of the publication he works for by a heavy-handed Texan.

But fear not, Gardner does have his health and intelligence. And those familiar with Corman’s writings know that he is a sentimentalist of the first rank, and that somehow honesty, virtue and love will triumph and be rewarded. Once again Corman has served up a bowl of fiction that while not particularly filling or zesty, nonetheless is sweet and soothing, and welcome.