In the months immediately following 9/11, singles across the nation felt the urge to merge. Determined to sally forth after the break-up of a three-year relationship, Alison Aucoin agreed to try speed dating. How could she possibly know that the search for her soul mate would bring encounters with a Bukowski-inspired plumber, a nerdy chain-restaurant connoisseur, a fellow wearing Mary Tyler Moore’s eyelashes, a one-eyed racist anti-Semite, and a rodeo clown?