Dating Big Bird

Confronted by the dreaded biological-clock syndrome, in Laura Zigman's Dating Big Bird 35-year-old Ellen Franck sees herself as a gumball machine ''dispensing its limited supply of eggs.'' She and her lawyer pal Amy Jacobs — both saddled with boyfriends who won't consider children — obsess about motherhood within the strictly white-bread limits of their Manhattan world. Zigman — who skewered relationships in her memorable first novel, Animal Husbandry — manages to squeeze in product placements for everything from high-end baby skin-care items to the chichi Pregnancy Survival Kit (a leggings-skirt-tunic-dress set). Although there are some undeniably funny moments, you can feel the effort behind the wit, and the resolutions are sitcom-pat. C+