MEN BEFORE TEN A.M.

MEN BEFORE TEN A.M. Veronique Vial, text by Pam Houston (Beyond Words, $24.95) A French celebrity photographer who has toiled for many leading glossies had a Frenchily insouciant idea: She'd make appointments to snap her favorite species -- men, that is -- way early in the morning, before they've put on the stern game faces (not to mention the clothes) with which they meet the world. Then, in a neat, tables-turning trick, she'd show up a few hours early, nabbing the hairy beasts in the shower, shaving, or still asleep. It's in this overly precious fashion that we happen upon Jeff Goldblum's enormous bed, Arthur Miller's 5:30 a.m. crankiness, and Ed Burns' stoopside breakfast. The pictures, like the subjects, are grainy, bedraggled, and -- despite their striking likeness to underwear ads -- fairly charming. B -- Alexandra Jacobs