HERB'S PAJAMAS

HERB'S PAJAMAS Abigail Thomas (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $17.95) A middle-aged copy editor struggles with his ex-wife's newfound independence; a 52-year-old virgin pursues new experiences after the death of her famous mother; a teen searches for her missing sister; and in the title story, a 60-year-old woman covertly delivers her dead lover to his wife's door after a late-night tryst (''I have given love freely and sometimes God cuts me a little slack,'' she says with relief). These are delicately wrought stories filled with tangy dialogue and moments of heart-piercing poignancy. Although they meander, Thomas brings them back to a threshold of luminous clarity. B+