An unlikely friendship between two very different boys develops in 1920s Chicago. Spud is physically powerful, none too bright though well supplied with boorish potential. He worships Lymie Peters, a vulnerable character, the neglected son of a drunken, self-absorbed widower. Maxwell's superb tale of small-town society amidst the chaos of college life is breathtakingly well observed. First published in 1945, it takes the theme of the end of boyhood and the coming of adult wisdom and balances it against brilliant characterisation, such as the fussy landlord Mr Dehner. Now 91, Maxwell, who served US literature for more than 40 years as a New Yorker fiction editor, is also one of America's great writers. Part of the genius of this profound, astute and often funny novel lies in the fact that Spud and Lymie's lopsided relationship is merely part of a narrative which explores human behaviour with a sharp eye. It leaves the reader wanting to read all of Maxwell, who is also the author of Time Will Darken It (1948), So Long, See You Tomorrow (1980) and a body of deft short stories. Certainly not a literary showman, but one of the century's master storytellers.
