Maxxed Out

Just when we really need it, a scathingly funny novel that skewers the ego-driven, morally bankrupt world of The Big Deal

Billionaire Robert Maxx is a king in the world of real estate. Prestigious buildings bear his name, the press treats him like royalty, and beautiful women are thrilled to be seen on his arm. Ruthless, bullying, vengeful, and yet, at times, improbably endearing, Maxx both repels and fascinates.

For writer David Collins, things are not so rosy. His novels didn't sell. His marriage fell apart. Scrabbling for a livelihood, he's turned to ghostwriting. When he gets the gig to crank out Maxx's next bestseller, he regards the assignment as nothing more than an easy payday.

But something happens. The storyteller in Collins takes over, and he realizes that this isn't one more hack job. It may be his last chance to write something of real value, reclaim his battered self-respect, and win back the ex-wife he still loves.

Against the all-too-real background of a cratering economy and the end of easy money, things start to fall apart for Maxx. As it becomes clear that his mighty empire was built on lies, hucksterism, and dubious accounting, the stage is set for deadly conflict between a fallen idol desperate to conceal the truth and a writer obsessed with an inside story that only he can tell.

Just when we really need it, a scathingly funny novel that skewers

the ego-driven, morally bankrupt world of The Big Deal

Billionaire Robert Maxx is a king in the world of real estate. Prestigious buildings bear his name, the press treats him like royalty, and beautiful women are thrilled to be seen on his arm. Ruthless, bullying, vengeful, and yet, at times, improbably endearing, Maxx both repels and fascinates.

For writer David Collins, things are not so rosy. His novels didn't sell. His marriage fell apart. Scrabbling for a livelihood, he's turned to ghostwriting. When he gets the gig to crank out Maxx's next bestseller, he regards the assignment as nothing more than an easy payday.

But something happens. The storyteller in Collins takes over, and he realizes that this isn't one more hack job. It may be his last chance to write something of real value, reclaim his battered self-respect, and win back the ex-wife he still loves.

Against the all-too-real background of a cratering economy and the end of easy money, things start to fall apart for Maxx. As it becomes clear that his mighty empire was built on lies, hucksterism, and dubious accounting, the stage is set for deadly conflict between a fallen idol desperate to conceal the truth and a writer obsessed with an inside story that only he can tell.

Publishers Weekly

This overpoweringly gimmicky faux memoir/biography from Collins recounts a ghostwriter's turbulent experience with a Donald Trumpesque celebrity real estate magnate. Robert Maxx, the Trump stand-in, is a salacious figure with plans to, among other things, buy Rockefeller Center and rename it after himself. Chronicling his dealings is David Collins, a failed novelist turned ghostwriter who gets an assignment to write a revelatory book that gets to the heart of Maxx. This, of course, is not so easy: the pay is low, and Maxx is a selfish bully who is roundly despised and, as one character remarks, "has no music" in his life. While Maxx's dealings become increasingly sleazy, Collins finds himself sidetracked by his interest in several women, among them his own ex-wife, his editor and the billionaire's vengeful ex-wife and his personal assistant. On the surface, this seems timely, but the sporadic references to the economic meltdown feel belatedly shoehorned in, while Maxx comes off as even more of a caricature than his real-life inspiration. However, there's enough outrageous scandal and over-the-top shenanigans to make this a juicy diversion for fans of The Apprentice. (May)

David Collins is an award-winning, bestselling novelist and ghostwriter whose fiction has been much praised for its wit and whose social criticism has been compared to that of Thoreau and Veblen by the Wall Street Journal. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Glamour, Esquire, BusinessWeek, and the New York Times Magazine. He lives in the United States and has been a sometime investor in New York real estate.