A post-modern puzzle about self and identity. Alexander embarks on a remarkable experiment, the likes of which no one has attempted before: to find who he is by writing a book as if he were a watching detective. With Penny, Alexander is a gadfly, mucking her about, unable to see past her beauty; but with Melanie, he has met his match. It is remarkable how quickly the mood shifts from talk of big questions (religion, God, beauty, how mirrors lie) to the perfectly ordinary nuances between a couple.