Two Yalies have submitted a book proposal about con artist Aleksey Vayner to Suzanne Gluck, at ICM, according to IvyGate.

(In a weird coincidence, Suzanne Gluck happens to be my agent.)

The story of Aleksey Vayner is both sensational and seemingly apocryphal. On the one hand, Aleksey and his family, penniless, emigrated from Uzbekistan to the United States; at eighteen, he gained admission to Yale University as a tennis recruit. On the other hand, Aleksey Vayner sexed up his accomplishments one time too many: recently, he single handedly became the laughing stock on Wall Street after sending an eleven page résumé and promotional video to UBS AG, the world’s largest asset wealth manager.

Ah, yes—not only sensational, but seemingly apocryphal.

Well, I literally can’t believe it. I have this weird hunch that the whole Aleksey Vayner thing is a big meta-joke—an ironic commentary on modern ambition, snark, higher education, Wall Street, the media, and indeed irony itself. A performance art piece, like in The Shape of Things. Or Borat.

More from the proposal:

But Wall Street erupted with laughter. And they have not stopped. Aleksey is being bombarded with requests for interviews. The calls have not stopped. Wall Street circulated Aleksey’s video and résumé because, Aleksey, whether we like it or not, is simply entertaining.

“But Wall Street erupted with laughter. And they have not stopped.”

Now, that’s good stuff. Just imagine it with an exclamation point: “And they have not stopped!”

It’s a fine line, reality. What with the plagiarism epidemic, Aleksey Vayner, and staying the course, I think I may have crossed/lost it.