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A Changed Man

3.32 of 5 stars 3.32 · rating details · 759 ratings · 124 reviews

What is charismatic Holocaust survivor Meyer Maslow to think when a rough-looking young neo-Nazi named Vincent Nolan walks into the Manhattan office of Maslow's human rights foundation and declares that he wants to "save guys like me from becoming guys like me"? As Vincent gradually turns into the sort of person who might actually be able to do this, he also transforms tho...more

Paperback, 448 pages

Published February 28th 2006 by Harper Perennial (first published March 1st 2005)

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2005

61st out of 100 books — 38 voters

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Sep 30, 2008 Jessie rated it 4 of 5 stars

A Changed Man begins with an ex-white supremacist walking into a human rights organization’s office to offer his services: he wants to “help guys like me from becoming guys like me.” The subject matter allows Prose to flex her satire muscles, which by this point are quite developed. In this case, the focal point of her attack is a human rights organization. I don’t know how she’s going to one-up herself after this one. Ten years ago, in Hunters and Gatherers, she targeted goddess-worshipping new...more A Changed Man begins with an ex-white supremacist walking into a human rights organization’s office to offer his services: he wants to “help guys like me from becoming guys like me.” The subject matter allows Prose to flex her satire muscles, which by this point are quite developed. In this case, the focal point of her attack is a human rights organization. I don’t know how she’s going to one-up herself after this one. Ten years ago, in Hunters and Gatherers, she targeted goddess-worshipping new agey ladies. Five years ago, in Blue Angel, she chose a riskier subject: sexual harassment and p.c. language limitations on the college campus, likely to remain a touchy subject for years to come. And now she’s picked a human rights organization; can a cow get much more sacred?

Prose allows four main characters to narrate: Vincent, the ex-neo-nazi, Meyer Maslow, the wealthy leader of the World Brotherhood Watch and a holocaust survivor, Bonnie, the organization’s (Jewish) fund-raiser who takes Vincent into her home, and Danny, Bonnie’s 16 year old son. The juxtaposition of Meyer and Vincent is excellent. The competitive, yet respectful, nature of their relationship is unveiled at their first meeting. Both men roll up their sleeves to reveal their tattoos: Meyer’s serial number given to him by Nazis and Vincent’s Waffen-SS bolts (Hitler’s elite guard’s symbol). Meyer’s written several inspirational books (which influenced Vincent’s departure from the white supremacist lifestyle, or so he claims), the most recent of which is lagging in sales. Meyer knows Vincent’s presence within the organization could bring much-needed funds to the World Brotherhood Watch, and guiltily thinks that it could also help his book sales. Meyer’s a charismatic leader who can get people to do whatever he wants. Danny thinks his mother’s been brainwashed by him: he’s actually convinced her to let the former neo-nazi live with them until they can find him an apartment. Bonnie is so obsessed with being a “good person” that she submits to Meyer’s demands. Soon, we discover that Vincent has a certain charm that Meyer hates to admit he envies. As Vincent sells his “changed man” story like a brand, the press, wealthy donors, and even Meyer’s wife eat it up. Meyer’s jealousy grows, followed by more guilt. One of my favorite Vincent-Meyer moments is when Meyer steals one of Vincent’s ideas to use in one of his trademark inspirational speeches. The two men form just one of the many interesting dyads in the book.

As we’re getting into the characters, we’re treated to some biting satire. What I like so much about this book is that the characters are so interesting and real and their stories so engaging that you forget the primary purpose of the book is satire. I think it’s more fulfilling and less didactic than straight-up satires that don’t concentrate on character development or pace. I do want to share two examples though. The first one is when Vincent is giving a speech at a fund-raising dinner. When he tells the audience about how he was taught to “hate,” the crowd gasps: hate has become a four-letter word. Prose understands how ideology affects language. (My mom used to send me to my room if I used the word “hate”). Vincent goes on to tell a simple story that’s meant to symbolize his complicated conversion. He and his cousin had gone to a Korean man’s greenhouse, intending to hurt the man. Vincent remembers aloud that they referred to him as a “Korean mother…” and decides not to use the word in such company. He realizes that the audience is disappointed, so he says it: “Korean motherfucker.” The crowd loves it; it’s so transgressive and thrilling. The other example I’d like to mention is when Danny gets in trouble at school for a paper he wrote on Hitler. This harkens back to Blue Angel’s attack on the academic gutting of free speech. After talking with Vincent, Danny writes a paper that suggests Hitler’s suppressed homosexuality may have informed his evil. He is promptly booted from school. Just putting homosexuality and evil in the same sentence is grounds for hanging. I love that she manages to make her points within a solid story.

From the very beginning, we know Vincent’s white power friends could find him at any moment. This point of tension propels the book and I ate it up like a bulimic at a buffet. I think I just puked all over the keyboard. I’ll wrap it by simply suggesting you read it. (less)

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Apr 29, 2007 Lauren rated it 2 of 5 stars

Such a bummer.

Riding a high after Francine Prose's "Reading Like a Writer", I picked up this book -- which I had been seeing on independent booksellers' tables for a while. I had hoped to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed her book on reading/writing because I thought she offered really keen insights on the subject.

However, I was pretty disappointed by this book. It wasn't that it was a bad book or poorly written. But it was long and sprawling... and just felt a little careless to me. I like writers...more

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Dec 17, 2008 Martha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Martha by: bookslut.com

Shelves: own, lent

Vincent Nolan leaves the Aryan Resistance Movement and seeks refuge (and a job) with the humanitarian organization World Brotherhood Watch. The rest of A Changed Man follows Vincent's growth and the people around him with mostly internal monologues. The characters' perceptions of each other and themselves play a huge role as these vastly different people try to understand each other.

Francine Prose made these characters into incredibly believable human beings. It is especially impressive when yo...more

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Nov 25, 2007 Maureen rated it 2 of 5 stars

After reading Blue Angel, I was disappointed with A Changed Man. It was entertaining and kept me interested, but also kept me wondering what was missing from making it great instead of just OK. Part of it was a matter of believability and another that I found none of the characters wholly likable. That they were all so habitually self deprecating didn't help either.

It did inspire me to ponder what the important part of a person is. Is it the inner person, their thoughts and feelings that they d...more

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Mar 31, 2009 Melanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Everyone believes in something, be it God, alchemy, market forces, or mutability. Meyer Maslow, high-profile Holocaust survivor and founder of Brotherhood Watch (BW), believes in all of the above, and then some. As head of an organization that uses publicity and moral pressure to free political prisoners and dissidents, he is surrounded by acolytes who staff his offices and follow his central belief: "peace through change."

The eponymous changed man, Vincent Nolan, leaves his van in the top tier...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Minerva rated it 3 of 5 stars

Obviously it is about a "changed man," and really it was the whole premise of the book that reeled me in (based on the book jacket).

Short Summary(spoilers)

A recovering neo-Nazi finds himself in a suburban home with a ready made family of a forty-something divorcee mother of two boys after he promises to be a spokesperson for an anti-hate organiziation with the hope he can prevent other guys like him from becoming guys like him.

First off, the Neo-Nazi is named Vincent which in my mind just doesn'...more Obviously it is about a "changed man," and really it was the whole premise of the book that reeled me in (based on the book jacket).

Short Summary(spoilers)

A recovering neo-Nazi finds himself in a suburban home with a ready made family of a forty-something divorcee mother of two boys after he promises to be a spokesperson for an anti-hate organiziation with the hope he can prevent other guys like him from becoming guys like him.

First off, the Neo-Nazi is named Vincent which in my mind just doesn't go together. The divorcee mother is named Bonnie which also doesn't go well together since she lacks the spunk and confidence of a bubbly woman. Think putty colored business suits, sensible pumps, limp blonde ponytail, and no-nonsence right-hand-arm of the anti-hate organization for which she works. So, how does Vincent end up here? Well, he was never really into the white supremacist scene. He has the anger issues, the idea that the media/goverenment has some huge conspiracy against the working man, and demeaning thoughts about women in general. Bonnie's boss, a Holocaust survivor and founder of World Brotherhood Watch(whose last name is Maslow...reminds me of that whole humanistic approach from psychology...you know, the hierarchy of needs) thinks Vincent is harmless when it comes to being a serial rapist or anything of that sort and convinces Bonnie he should stay at her house until other living arrangements are made.

So, his initial conversion is not completely genuine. He is just hoping Brotherhood Watch will take him in and protect him from his crazy skinhead cousin, Raymond, from which he stole a truck, 1500 dollars, and a caseload of drugs. Then he ends up kicking back in front of a TV with Bonnie's eldest son and causing a specatuclar sensation for World Brotherhood Watch at fancy dinner parties and a Maury-like talk show where the former skinhead and the Holocause surviver are now brothers.

What I Think:

The big problem for me is that I just didn't really see how or when Vincent changed. I also don't see how he fell for Bonnie since they never really had one of those huge connecting moments. She took off her glasses once for him, they kissed briefly, and he thought about how it would be really easy to take advantage of her since she practically through herself at him. Oh, but wait...he is a changed man! He didn't even steal Bonnie's son's stash of drugs when he left town. What a changed guy! Then he gets to speak at a graduation ceremony because he is the reformed face of white supremacy.

I usually love everything written by Francine Prose, but I just wasn't crazy about this one. She definately got the right voice down for a semi-neo-Nazi and a bland suburban divorcee, but she just didn't make their voices come together. She just didn't create enought change in Vincent to warrant his golden ticket at the end of it all. The novel is described as darkly comic by the publisher, and I suppose that is why he is named Vincent and why he gets to be the keynote speaker and why a bunch of other stuff is included. But, it is not darkly comic enough for me. Or maybe it's that I am so used to reading first person YA that I just can't get too involved with darkly comic adult fiction.

But, I still want to read My New American Life, which also promises to be darkly comic. Maybe I'll get it better this time.(less)

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Jan 17, 2012 Bruce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Prose has sensitive ear for free indirect discourse and for dialogue. Her language quickly had me engaged. Her characters are complex, each highly individual but also believable– Vincent Nolan, Meyer Maslow, Bonnie Kalen, her sons. I was at first more impressed by their emerging complexity than by any significant change they were each undergoing, at least until the second half of the novel. Each had ghosts and was full of neuroses. It was initially hard to know whether Nolan was “legit.” Was he...more Prose has sensitive ear for free indirect discourse and for dialogue. Her language quickly had me engaged. Her characters are complex, each highly individual but also believable– Vincent Nolan, Meyer Maslow, Bonnie Kalen, her sons. I was at first more impressed by their emerging complexity than by any significant change they were each undergoing, at least until the second half of the novel. Each had ghosts and was full of neuroses. It was initially hard to know whether Nolan was “legit.” Was he really someone who is trying to change his life? Or was he faking it, ready to go back to the neo-Nazi life he had been living? And, if he was really as lukewarm and marginal to the Aryan Resistance Movement as he implied, than was his new direction very significant after all?

I had several questions as I arrived at the mid-point of the novel. Is it plausible that someone as apparently fearful of being targeted for revenge by the ARM as Nolan implies that he is would be willing to be such a public figure for the World Brotherhood Watch? Is something not adding up about his story and his intentions?

Vincent increasingly seems genuine, and Bonnie, who has been giving him a room in which to stay, is obviously becoming more emotionally involved with him. But as the story progresses, things are obviously going too well. The neo-Nazis have not yet caught up to Vincent, even as he is getting more publicity, and some sort of crisis is bound to occur in Bonnie and Vincent’s relationship. To this point, Prose has primarily been working at establishing a kind of stability after the initial destabilizing occurrence of Nolan’s appearance, and now is the time to introduce complications that threaten to shatter the success of what has been happening. Eventually, one suspects, all will turn out well, but first there needs to be some crisis, some challenge that threatens to undo all the apparent progress.

And the crisis finally arrives when Raymond, Vincent’s cousin and ARM leader, from whom Vincent stole a truck, drugs, and money when he left the ARM to change sides, learns through the media where Vincent is and what he is doing. And one wonders whether Raymond may seek revenge by going after Bonnie rather than Vincent directly. There seems to be no good way for this crisis to be resolved.

But it does get resolved. So what if the ending is a little sappy. At least it’s believable. And the message of the novel is good, and it’s honest. Change is possible. And we are not in this life alone. Prose has created a novel that is entertaining, engaging, and has more substance than much of contemporary fiction. She also provides interesting insights into the white supremacy movement. I would be willing to read more of her work.

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Apr 18, 2007 Sacha rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read two other books by Francine Prose (Blue Angel and The Peaceable Kingdom). This was pretty different. Reminded me a lot of Nick Hornby's How to Be Good, but not as funny. The story is basically that an uninspired Neo-Nazi sees the light while on Ecstacy and decides to throw himself at the mercy of and in service to an Elie Wiesel-like character. It feels not nearly as dark as her other stories, in fact it isn't dark at all. I liked it in spite of that.

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Jan 20, 2012 Jesse rated it 2 of 5 stars

My problem with this book is not exactly that it's essentially a hokey Lifetime movie, a.k.a. a corny cheeseball romantic pseudo drama, so much as the subject matter was toned down to a largely PG incarnation. Granted, movies like American History X are on the opposite end of the spectrum and possibly more violent than reality, but even the middle ground is much more than your average person wants to see or even know about. This book uses that sub-culture in a much too safe way and dare I say, i...more My problem with this book is not exactly that it's essentially a hokey Lifetime movie, a.k.a. a corny cheeseball romantic pseudo drama, so much as the subject matter was toned down to a largely PG incarnation. Granted, movies like American History X are on the opposite end of the spectrum and possibly more violent than reality, but even the middle ground is much more than your average person wants to see or even know about. This book uses that sub-culture in a much too safe way and dare I say, irresponsibly.

A Changed Man is about a neo-Nazi skinhead on the run from his cousin and thugs from a Nazi and bigoted "organization" and goes looking for refuge from its polar opposite: an internationally reknowned peace organization run by a Holocaust survivor. Remarkably, they take him in even though the place is not a shelter or welfare group or anything of that nature. Nope, he just walks in and before he leaves, has a heart-to-heart with the founder and somehow convinces them to let him join.

From then on, the story gets alarmingly predictable. A love interest develops, his past confronts him and everything wraps up all nice and cute and neat at the end. Even the very end you could see coming a mile away.

The thing is that during the entire story, you come to understand that the guy never really bought into the whole Nazi philosophy to begin with and only did it to fit in. It's practically spelled out for you over and over by the author, right from the beginning actually. The other problem is that with the threat of his past catching up with him looming, nothing has been set up to make you think that anyone is in any real danger and as it turns out, no one is. It's an entirely benign sequence of events focused more on the female co-star and their eventual fall for each other than actually depicting a violently bigoted and hateful Nazi-sympathizer realizing how wrong he's been this entire time and doing a 180 and truly meaning it. So in a sense, A Changed Man really cheapens and quite possibly gives people a very wrong impression on what these people are like and are capable of.

This book is basically, "Timid single mother with incredibly low self-esteem falls in love with phony skinhead." Whatever.(less)

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Jun 07, 2011 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wish there was another, alternative rating system on GR such as Positive, Negative and Neutral. This book would receive neutral. This is my first Prose book and I happened to pick it up on audio at a good price, which is what prompted me to partake in Prose's work.

It is good to read that she has other, better books because this book on its own would not prompt me to be a huge fan of her writing.

This story seemed to be such an interesting concept after reading the quick synopsis on the...more

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Aug 15, 2007 Alison rated it 3 of 5 stars

I kind of feel the same way about this book as I did about the other Francine Prose novels I have read. Sharp writing, lots of funny/poignant moments, fully realized, idiosyncratic characters ... but I wasn't totally into it, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. I'm relearning the art of reading on public transportation, and this one made me a bit uncomfortable with its crazy racist characters spouting invective on every page.

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Feb 19, 2008 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2008

An enjoyable read, though I had hoped Francine Prose might deliver a 4-star book. The plot is hardly rich enough to warrant a 400-page novel, but Prose makes it a fun read. Characters are interesting and expertly drawn. Prose takes aim at a number of sacred cows, but does so with such wit and humor that it's hard to resist the charm of this novel.

As plot summaries are widely available, I won't attempt one here.

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Dec 30, 2012 kasia rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is not a great novel, but it's a peasant one. The story of a former skinhead who comes to work for a foreign aid program run by a Holocaust survivor, and develops a close relationship with a single mom working there, and her two sons. There's nothing especially earth shattering about it, but it's a pleasant read with credible insight into human nature. Granted, everyone in the book - even the quasi-villain - is basically the nicest, most likeable incarnation of their character type that you...more

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Nov 06, 2009 Donia Alexandra rated it 1 of 5 stars

As of yesterday I officially got sick of this book. Done. I'm done. Unfortunately my bookclub is discussing this book on Sunday and I'm forced between the half read strong negitive opinion... or foraging ahead (only 200 or so more pages) through a book that I'm really over, and having a fully read opinion of the book, which I doubt will be very different from the opinion I hold now.

So here is the thing. The book is psychologically driven. Not a horrible thing in itself. The point of view switch...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

Critical opinion varied widely on this latest novel by veteran Prose, who has written 11 novels as well as many nonfiction books. Champions found it filled with biting wit and hilarious episodes pitting the drifter skinhead against the entrenched upper classes, which added up to an entertaining examination of important contemporary issues. Detractors found the plot too static and reliant on caricature, didn't believe in or care about Vincent's transformation, and thought the ending predictable.

...more

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Feb 16, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010s, fiction, in-my-sony-reader

An enjoyable read that doesn't quite make it all the way. The main problem is that Vincent, the "ex-Neo Nazi," never seems to have been a Nazi in the first place. Just a tagalong. Other than using the word "Rican" he doesn't seem to have a hateful or even non-PC bone in his body. So it's hard to buy into his transformation. Or is that part of the satire? Hard to tell. The other problem is that this novel is set in episodes in the spring and summer of 2001. I kept waiting for 9/11 to roll around....more

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Nov 09, 2009 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: challenge-fall09

Makes you think about what it really means to change your life, or change your way of thinking, and how you might change one without changing the other, and how you might change either without really meaning to. Each character had their own flaws, their own moments of rising above themselves, and their own moments of allowing events or circumstances or their baser natures to overwhelm them. I was surprised by how invested I was by the end of the book.

On the downside, it was occasionally hard to...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cultural, historical-fiction

I was immediately engrossed in the lives of each character from page one. Vincent Nolan, former skinhead, is introduced first as the man in metamorphosis. He is welcomed as the man to prove that people can change from haters to lovers in the diverse world. Bonnie Kalen, a single mother of two, brings Nolan into her home where relationships are formed and exemplified in their relations to each other. The way characters feel and figure each other out is beautifully shown in subtle glances and mann...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Bridget rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: moms who know nothing about skinheads

Novels about skinheads should be right in my wheelhouse but this book was just not on. I read Prose's Blue Angel a couple of years ago and enjoyed it so I expected to feel similarly about this book but no.
It took pages and pages to get through 5 minutes of real time as every main character's thoughts spun off and around every single thing that occurred. Despite the interior third person monologues, I couldn't get easily invested in any character because they were all watercolor washes of real pe...more

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May 05, 2012 Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ah, Ms. Prose never ceases to amaze me. The last book of hers I read was Blue Angel, a wonderfully written satire on sexual harassment (and perhaps predation?) in the University setting. Here she tackles hypocrisy and self-delusion in Human Rights work. And yet, the book doesn't force you to see that that is what she is doing. It is brilliant. A less attentive person (or maybe one that does simply enjoy the story) would read it for the narrative and character development. But the genius of Prose...more

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Apr 03, 2010 Lauren Albert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I remember reading a book on the constitution which claims that while the authors were nowhere near as radical as the document they authored (which was, of course, influenced by expediency), they were compelled to behave as if they were since they had authored it. I thought of that while reading this book. Can we become a better person by claiming to be one? The "Changed Man" is not the only person in the novel we can look at through this lens. Other characters, wanting to see themselves (and be...more

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Oct 14, 2008 Jane Roper rated it 3 of 5 stars

I admired the way Prose tried to get inside the minds and hearts of four such different characters -- a (former) white supremacist, the neurotic fundraising exec. who hosts and befriends him, her teenage son, the eloquent and sometimes self-absorbed head of the non-profit organization at the center of the book.

However, I'm not sure she succeeds entirely, especially in the case of the white supremacist. I would have liked to go a few steps deeper (and darker) into his history, his motivations, h...more

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Apr 03, 2007 Mrs. McGregor rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summary: A Neo-Nazi named Vincent Nolan wants to turn around and "save guys like [him] from becoming guys like [him]" by helping World Brotherhood Watch raise money and awareness. At the helm of WBW is holocaust survivor and well-known author, Meyer Maslow, who befriends Vincent. In the process, Vincent bunks up with a single mom Bonnie and her two boys, Danny and Max. This is his "hideout", since his former buddies from ARM (Aryan Resistance Movement) are after him because they "want revenge"....more Summary: A Neo-Nazi named Vincent Nolan wants to turn around and "save guys like [him] from becoming guys like [him]" by helping World Brotherhood Watch raise money and awareness. At the helm of WBW is holocaust survivor and well-known author, Meyer Maslow, who befriends Vincent. In the process, Vincent bunks up with a single mom Bonnie and her two boys, Danny and Max. This is his "hideout", since his former buddies from ARM (Aryan Resistance Movement) are after him because they "want revenge".

In a nutshell: I don't recommend it.

If you can imagine a cheesy, gooey, unsatisfying ending to this story, it will be far worse than what you can think up. The "change" they blab on and on about in this book is neither dramatic, interesting, or at all moving. And all the stuff before the end is pretty anti-climactic. I wish boredom was the worst thing about this book.

The most action in the first 200 pages of the book is an allergic reaction to a walnut. I shit you not. I couldn't make this up. The big, huge struggle this former Nazi has while trying to assimilate to the "real world" is trying to avoid all the stuff that he's allergic to.

These threatening ARM guys they mentioned Vincent worrying about constantly didn't show up till 3/4 of the way through the book, and even then it was only one ARM guy, and Vincent just beats the crap out of him. Then he hides out for a while, his tail between his legs, and a few days later, emerges triumphantly to "save the day" and deliver the graduation speech at Danny's high school's graduation. Because, he's a really great role-model, beating guys within an inch of their lives and all. Which, by the way, is the "deal" Bonnie and Vincent make to get Danny out of trouble with the assistant principal when he writes a paper about Hitler that the school's administration worries could be "slightly homophobic". During the speech, Bonnie and Vincent realize they love each other and look forward to a new life. Hooey!

Finally, the most annoying thing about this book was that every single character spends a lot of time thinking about what other people are probably thinking about them. It's absurd. It would be okay for the first couple of chapters maybe, while Meyer Maslow, Bonnie, her two kids and the Nazi were all trying to size each other up, but you know, by page 100 or so it gets a little old.

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Aug 29, 2012 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked but didn't love this novel about a former neo-nazi who decides to quit and go to work for a human rights group. Prose adeptly explores our preconceptions and consciences while allowing some humor and some biting observations about modern life and taboos. But I felt it needed some more editing; often the same scene is described several times from differing points of view. While in some works this may be an effective literary device, it fails in this instance. The climax feels like somethi...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Christopher Roberts rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 21st-century

Prose had a great idea and something brilliant in the meeting of a holocaust survivor philanthropist and an ex-skinhead. The problem is that she decided to tell the story of a romance between the skinhead and a recently divorced mother of two instead. Even Prose knew that she was dealing with cliched material, she references it in the book itself, but she trudges through anyway. This novel is the definition of the word miscalculation.

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Sep 19, 2009 Ray rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think this is my third Prose book, and while it does not seem like it is probably her absolute best, it was totally enjoyable. It did not take itself too seriously either, despite the potential based on its plot points. I am not totally sure what the point of the book was, but there a ton of moments that I connected to and for that I really liked it.

As a rule, I think Prose is a great writer. Love that there are so many more to go!

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Feb 13, 2009 Yvonne rated it 3 of 5 stars

The premise of this book is so off-putting that I had to read it. The story develops at a good pace, with the main characters gaining a respectable depth quickly. I found the idea that Vincent tumbled into being a neo-Nazi without paying much attention especially interesting. Does the author want to point out that apathy is no excuse? Or is she making a statement about the vagueness of our political ideas in general?

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Nov 05, 2010 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Debbie by: Paula told me about this author i think

Shelves: loved-but-cant-remember

I read this before i was on goodreads but it was very absorbing and funny though not realistic, skinhead and extreme liberal fall in love. i remember that there was a touching public speaking scene where they see eachothers humanity but not much more and the skinhead has a good affect on her teenage son. I guess this is one of those books I could discuss if someone reminded me of some of the details.

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Dec 18, 2012 Alice rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

13 CDs later - we listened to this up and down the East coast - all I can say is ich. Sometimes funny, always ironic, with characters that one ends up not caring about and not being able to imagine their life after book.To focused on keeping us guessing who is the changed man (or woman) the holocaust survivor, the neo-nazi, the drugged out teenager or the helicopter mom. I ended up not caring.

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Dec 02, 2008 Melissa rated it 1 of 5 stars

I hated this book. Initially I was really excited anout it. She had an interesting plot about a Holocaust survivor and an ex-Neo-Nazi kid working together for social change, and then she dropped it. Turned it into a cliche love story between the guy's secretary and the Neo-Nazi. It really pissed me off because it wasen't even a good love story. It was pathetic and annoying.

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About Francine Prose

Francine Prose (born in 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American novelist. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968, and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991. She has sat on the board of judges for the PEN/Newman's Own Award, and her novel Blue Angel, a satire about sexual harassment on college campuses, was a finalist for the National Book Award. She is now teaching at Bard College.

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title link	preview: A Changed Man
avg rating	preview: A Changed Man Goodreads rating: 3.32 (759 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218857.A_Changed_Man?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347226923l/218857.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218857.A_Changed_Man?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Changed Man by Francine Prose[/url]

A Changed Man

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