Max Klein
Created by Paul Benjamin (pseud.
of Paul Auster)
Paul Auster, the high-falutin' literary author of the New York Trilogy, a three-part philosophical tour-de-force, was once grounded enough to write a PBO as Paul Benjamin that features MAX KLEIN as "a tough New York shamus who delivers wisecracks as fast as his one-two punch," according to the cover.
Actually, that's a cheap shot. The fact is, both the Benjamin book and the New York trilogy are well worth reading. It's almost a shame we lost Auster to a higher literary calling, because Klein is an appealling character and Squeeze Play is a good, solid read (and, incidentally, a very collectible one) about a former star baseball player who's decided to go into politics. When he starts receiving death threats, he hires baseball fanatic Klein to investigate.
Max is a streetwise P.I. with a busted-up marriage and a stint at the D.A.'s office behind him, who works out of a dinky office on West Broadway whose windows "haven't seen a sponge since Mr. Clean went bald" and whose walls are decorated with nine identical prints of Brueghel's Tower of Babel. Definitely a sign that the author would soon be after slightly bigger game...
NOVELS