Wifeshopping centers on the ultimate human quest: the search for companionship, love, and understanding. These captivating stories feature American men, love-starved and striving, who try and often fail to connect with the women they imagine could be their wives. Some of the women are fianc�es, some are new girlfriends, some are strangers who cross the men's paths for only a few hours or moments. In "Beaching It," an artist traveling on the summer circuit begins an affair with a rich, married local. In "Me and Paul," a lonely traveler adopts an alter ego to help him impress a single mother. In "Bill," a trip to a flea market highlights the essential differences between a man and his fianc�e. Throughout this thoroughly entertaining read, Wingate's sympathetic characterizations reveal both the hopefulness and the heartache behind our earnest but sometimes misguided attempts at intimacy.