THE GOLDIN BOYS by Joseph Epstein...

THE GOLDIN BOYS by Joseph Epstein (Norton: $8.95; 221 pp.). Most of the stories in this collection depict either the tribulations of growing up Jewish in middle-class Chicago or an older man who suddenly realizes the emptiness of his life when he encounters an appealing child. In “Kaplan’s Big Deal,” a cagey businessman takes no pleasure in his millions until he meets precocious Philippe at an airport; he then devotes his considerable resources to courting the child’s mother--just for the chance to play father. A noted essayist, Epstein knows how to formulate a well-constructed sentence, but his characters don’t seem particularly believable--or interesting.