Compellingly readable, We Should Not Be Friends is the portrait of an unlikely but abiding friendship as it has developed across decades. Will, an awkward classics major, and Maxie, a boisterous star wrestler, met in their senior year at Yale in the early 1980's. Lacking much in common, they were cautious about building a connection. Over the years, however, that connection, despite different paths and various interruptions, has grown into a major part of each man's life. In one sense, the book is Schwalbe's tribute to a remarkable man, his friend Maxie. But much more than that it is a tribute to the complexity and the rich rewards of all friendships. Highly recommended. ( )