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Being Alexander [Paperback]

Nancy Sparling (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


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Book Description

June 25, 2002
Alex was a pushover. Alexander pushes back.
Alex was a chump. Alexander is a champ.
Alex moved in the gutter. Alexander hits the fast lane.

Everyone likes Alex Fairfax. He’s dependable, friendly, hardworking. He is also a sucker. A sucker who sits by while his oily coworker maliciously sabotages his advertising career, then steals Alex’s girlfriend from under his very nose. But Alex is a sucker who has finally had enough of “yes sir” and “thank you.” Enough of kowtowing to the powerful. Enough of being polite.

So Alex transforms himself into Alexander—avenger of the maligned. Sure, he lost his job and has to share a crummy apartment with a bunch of twentysomething hippies, but nothing will stop Alexander from exacting sweet vengeance on the long list of those who have done him wrong.

With the right clothes, the right hair, and the right attitude, Alexander plots to ascend through the ranks of the elite, tear down the company that refused to stand by him, and humiliate his snake of a colleague and disloyal ex-girlfriend. But while pulling off one stealthy stunt after another, wooing away clients and ruining a few choice careers, Alex discovers that being a shark isn’t all glitz and glamour—and that his own heart still beats to a very tender drum. . . .

A sharp, edgy, witty novel of delicious revenge, Being Alexander stars the best kind of character—one readers can’t quite decide whether to loathe or to love. But in the end, the fact remains: for Alex to truly find himself, he had to become someone else. The result is an irresistibly wicked comedy of ill-manners.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A trod-upon nice guy is transformed into a ruthless avenger in this one-note debut novel. In the course of a week, London advertising writer Alex Fairfax catches his girlfriend astraddle his boss, finds his Jaguar sacked by hoodlums, is fired from his job and hit by a flying glass in a barroom brawl. Then, for good measure, he is mugged on the way home from the hospital. He reincarnates himself as the tough and narcissistic Alexander, intending to revenge himself on all those who have wronged him. As he puts it: "I am not a loser. Alex was a loser. I am Alexander. Yes, I am. I am Alexander." Similar renderings of this quote turn up all through the narrative, which makes for slow going. The newly minted Alexander starts his own instantly successful company, splurges on a designer wardrobe and wins Camilla, a snobbish girlfriend he showers with expensive gifts. Alexander gains access to upper-crust British society through Camilla's connections, and its soir‚es offer some of the book's best moments; however, the outcome of their romance is swift and predictable. Sparling fleshes out her familiar premise in rapid-fire, telegraphic prose and inserts several quirky, stream-of-consciousness chapters throughout the novel, but no pyrotechnics can quite jolt the plodding tale to life. Neither Alex nor Alexander is a particularly sympathetic character, and his assorted friends and enemies are never fully fleshed out.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this loopy morality tale, Alex is a really nice young Brit who has every bad thing imaginable happen to him. His cool Jaguar is bashed by young thugs, and he finds his boss in bed with his girlfriend. Then the same boss sabotages Alex's career and gets him sacked from his ad agency job. He even gets hit in the face by flying glass in a pub brawl. Always innocent, always the victim, Alex picks up the pieces and decides to become Alexander. This new guy won't have to be nice, will always win, and, above all, will get even. He starts his own ad agency, steals his former firm's clients, finds a rich, sexy girlfriend, and methodically harvests revenge. However, when Alexander realizes he has become the kind of person he absolutely despises, he makes another painful transformation--and there just might be a happy ending. With a part tailor-made for Hugh Grant, this breezy, enjoyable read seems destined for the silver screen. Peggy Barber
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Paperback: 367 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (June 25, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345450647
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345450647
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,611,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
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2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Everyone's Revenge Fantasy, August 12, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Being Alexander (Paperback)
Yes, yes, this novel is one note. Yes, most of the supporting characters are not fleshed out. Yes, the title character can sometimes be difficult to stand. And you know what? I love it.

This is the revenge fantasy we all want to live. Alex reinvents himself as Alexander, a take-charge, no-holds-bared kind of guy who's not going to put up with anyone's BS anymore...his own included. Yes, the denouement is trite and predictable, but the book is thoroughly enjoyable in a I-stayed-up-all-night-to-read-this way. The dialogue is witty, the action swift, and the prose accessible and biting. If this is a mediocre debut, then I wish most debuts were positively deplorable.

Bottom line? This a fun read that won't tax your imagination, and will make you stand up and cheer more than once.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Debut Novel, January 26, 2005
By 
James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Being Alexander (Paperback)
Recently having read the great novel Free Lunch by the same author I eagerly looked forward to reading Nancy Sparling's first ever novel Being Alexander. I was not disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed this novel as well. It is written in the same first person narrative style as Free Lunch. Being Alexander also reminded me of the classic novel Syrup, by Maxx Barry which is also about a young guy in the communications industry although he was in marketing (Alex in this novel is advertising) who was also wronged by an unethical competitor and used his fast wit and intelligence to gain revenge and become extremely successful. This book is an extremely enjoyable and entertaining light read. If you liked this also check out Syrup and if you haven't read Free Lunch by Sparling, get it too. Paranoia by Joseph finder also has a similar theme and is up there quality wise as well but if you only check out one other book of this style get Maxx Barry's Syrup.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Being....entertained!, November 29, 2002
This review is from: Being Alexander (Paperback)
Nancy Sparling rolls out the doormat in her novel "Being...Alexander"...and his name is Alex. Alex Fairfax, to be exact. Alex is a corporate cut-out doll, a pushover, a Mr. Milquetoast for the twenty-first century. But unlike that legendary character, Alex gets pissed and decides not to take it anymore. When he walks in on his nefarious and backstabbing boss having sex with his girlfriend, something in Alex snaps. And thus is born Alexander.

Sparling does an excellent job of making Alex an unlikable git at the beginning of her novel, and an equally excellent job of making the reader root for him as he is born again...with great, giant balls. His endeavor for revenge against all those who've walked over him is a wonderful exercise in revenge. Sparling doesn't wimp out at the end either, by offering some overused and trite moral comeuppance...but allows the story to run its course naturally. For that reason, "Being...Alexander" is a great story; entertaining and perfect for anyone who's been used as a doormat in their life.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
life is not about love. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
alexander fairfax, being alexander
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Alex Fairfax, Henry Johnson, Richard Morris, Shire Horse Centre, Clare Johnson, Lionel Richie, Cornwallis Investment, Ethical Genetics, Head Librarian
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