Being Alexander is the secret manifesto of wimps, nerds, the meek and downtrodden everywhere. When Alex Fairfax gets dumped (mostly because his boss is screwing his girlfriend), fired (mostly because his boss is screwing his girlfriend), gets kicked out of his apartment that he's sharing with his girlfriend (mostly because his boss is screwing his girlfriend), finds his precious car ruined by hoodlums (which has nothing to do with his boss screwing his girlfriend) hit by a glass thrown by a guy in a bar and mugged on his way home from the hospital all in the space of a day or so, he decides to strike back at the world. The ruthless, shameless, confident, winner-take-all Alexander is born. As he says, "I am not a loser. Alex was a loser. I am Alexander."

Alexander reinvents himself with expensive clothes, a wad of cash that he's willing to spend, a confident attitude to the point of arrogance and a several-point plan designed to get back at the specific people who wronged him. He starts his own company to compete with his old one, steals several clients from them to the point where they beg him to return, and he gets his former boss fired in the process. He unabashedly hits on women and has wanton sex with several women (not at the same time) — something Alex never would have done but always wanted to. He gets into a relationship with one of London's elite and gains access to the higher levels of society. He makes his ex incredibly jealous. He even manages to terrorize the young punks who destroyed his car and the man who hit him with the glass in the bar. Alexander is meticulous in his revenge and his conquests.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, the reader starts to get the feeling that evil gets you somewhere. Lie, cheat, steal, screw your way to the top. Money, ruthlessness and confidence will get you everything you've ever wanted. Morality and compassion is not an option. At this point, anyone who's been living the life of the Nice Guy and is reading this book is questioning whether they need to undergo a massive personality change.

Unfortunately, Alex begins to shine through. The morality play of "you can't change who you are" always wins out, and cracks begin to show in Alexander's perfect life as he begins to — once again — develop a conscience. Being ruthless isn't all it's made out to be, he discovers.

The war of Good vs. The Perfect Life culminates a bit too quickly in this book, and the development of the outside characters is a bit too shallow for readers to really see anything other than the one-dimensional aspect needed to fit them into a particular place in Alexander's world. But it still gives readers a pause to question whether they might need to change a bit about themselves to get a bit more out of the Grand Scheme. It's definitely worth a read, especially since I'm not going to tell you whether Alex or Alexander wins out in the end.