A reformed skinhead presents himself at the front door of a foundation run by a Holocaust survivor, offering himself up as a “changed man” who wants to help others like him. What’s the catch? I wondered, naturally. But it turns out there is no catch. Certainly, the skinhead was never overly devoted to his cause, but as he moves in with the foundation’s development director and her two teenaged sons, it becomes clear that he has no agenda other than getting along for as long as he can. I probably would have liked the novel better if there truly had been some master plan in the works, if the changes referred to in the title had occurred further along in the story and much more dramatically. A Changed Man was mildly entertaining but never life-changing. ( )

If I'm in the mood for a frothy and funny summertime read, I wouldn't generally pick up a book about neo-Nazi skinheads. But I stumbled upon A Changed Man, and although I wouldn't call it frothy, it's an easy read and sometimes wickedly funny - a perfect beach read. It's about Vincent, a young skinhead complete with Waffen SS tattoos, who offers his help to a human-rights group headed by a Holocaust survivor. The organization puts Vincent up at he home of the development director, a tightly-wound divorced mom, and starts milking his touching reformation for all its worth in terms of publicity and donations.

This is a book that could easily have devolved into something oh so very arch and mean-spirited, but in the end the flawed characters, with all their human ambiguities, are quite endearing. It made me smile. ( )

I thought this was a beautifully written exploration of an unlikely relationship. The character, Bonnie, is the only person who is true to herself. The other characters, particularly the supposedly reformed neo-Nazi, Vincent, and the human rights activist, Meyer Maslow, are all hiding something and have unknown motives, which are not completely resolved at any point during the book. Is it possible that somebody of Vincent's character and history can reform? Unlikely, and yet Prose has us believing that this has indeed occurred. ( )

I had been meaning to read something by Francine Prose for a long time to see what everyone was talking about. It was with some trepidation however that I read the outline of the plot on the cover of A Changed Man, thinking it was not very promising. I was so wrong. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The characters are not the stereotypes I had expected and the story is exciting. It is darkly comic, yet poses some of the most fundemental questions about how to be a moral human being. No one escapes the author's keen analysis of their behaviour and motives. A charismatic Holacaust survivor, Meyer Maslow heads a New York based Human Rights Organization. His crusade against intolerance and injustice have made him a hero and also a very rich man with a weakness for expensive clothes and wines. His heroism is practiced , for the most part, behind a desk in an expensive Manhattan corner office. Even before Vincent Nolan, a young neo-nazi wanting to change his life walks into his offices, Maslow is suffering from self doubt. His latest book is not selling well. His star seems in decline as he compares the media attention given to Elie Wiesel and to himself and finds himself wanting. Then he finds himself wanting because he cared about it.
With the appearance of Vincent Nolan who says his mission is to "save guys like him from becoming guys like him", Maslow and his chief fundraiser Bonnie Kalen become convinced that Nolan may be their ticket to more media attention and more money. They literally take him in the same day, and this is a little unbelievable, he goes home with Kalen to stay at her cramped suburban home with her and her two young sons, aged 12 and 16. This a clear and foreboding demonstration of Maslow's ego and personal selfishness, that he demands that she do this rather than putting Nolan in a hotel and risk having him not show up in the morning. He spends not a moment worrying about her family's safety until he is reprimanded by his wife who is worried. Even then he lies to his wife and says that Kalen wanted to do it. Any sacrifice for the cause, so long as it doesn't disturb his elegant private life.
Although Nolan tells them that his former neo-nazi buddies do not treat deserters kindly , neither Maslow nor Kalen have any real understanding of the potential danger Nolan brings with him or that he has not told them the whole truth. As the media frenzy grows, so does the attention of those Nolan left behind.
The story takes place with the background of the trial and execution of Tim McVeigh and the bombings in Waco, Texas and a heightened media awareness of the danger of America's aryan nations, neo nazi, fringe groups.
Bonnie Kalen is a complex and interesting character, more of a candidate for sainthood than Maslow, at least based on the events in this book. She is driven by her passion to "do good", to raise more money for the Foundation, to save more people but she is blind to other things, what is happening to her children, and how she is being manipulated by both Nolan and Maslow.
Every character in this book including Kalen's sons, her ex-husband, and Maslow's wife are carefully drawn and fascinating.
Full of wit and humanity, I recommend this book to everyone. ( )

Francine Prose’s characterization skills are superb, although her style took a bit of getting used to. Her style is almost too conversational and informal, which isn’t so much a criticism as much as an observation. I suspect the previous statement is more reflective of my personal preference anyway, rather than an actual detriment to the novel as a whole, because, despite what I say, the book was compulsively readable.

The fact that Vincent Nolan, the Neo-Nazi, was the most sympathetic, likeable character says a lot about Francine Prose’s ability. To be honest, though, Vincent wasn’t much of a Nazi to begin with, having (mostly) manufactured his bigotry after a bout of bad luck and bad decisions (girlfriend left him, he dunked an old Jewish lady in a swimming pool) left him homeless. Because the only person who could help him out was his cousin Raymond (a bona fide redneck with a swastika tattoo on his hand), Vincent figured that the best thing to do would be to join (or at least pretend to join) the Aryan Resistance Movement. A particularly good batch of ecstasy was instrumental in leading Vincent to renounce his bigoted ways and seek out the World Brotherhood Watch, headed by the charismatic (and sometimes opportunistic) Holocaust survivor, Meyer Maslow.

Meyer Maslow, with his pseudo-humility and moral vanity, is clearly an amalgam of the many celebrities who take part in a cause under the guise of altruism, when, in fact, they are motivated by the anticipation of the public’s adulation. (I mean, really, who can afford to take part in “charities” that require table reservations/entrance fees in the high hundreds except these “generous” celebrities?) Meyer gets all the congratulations, but the real worker bee behind his organization is Bonnie Kalen.

Bonnie Kalen is a nearly middle-aged divorcee raising two sons by herself while her ex-husband lives the cliche, i.e., middle-aged doctor seeking to carve an identity for himself, which apparently necessitates a younger, childless wife. Bonnie’s blind reverence for Meyer Maslow (her oldest son, Danny, calls him Meyer Manson) is evident when, at Meyer’s suggestion, she allows herself to be persuaded to take Vincent home with her.

The ambition of A Changed Man reminds me a bit of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, although Francine Prose does not quite reach the end she is trying to achieve and Zadie Smith is, in my opinion, a literary god among insects. Like Zadie Smith, though, Francine Prose uses humor to expose the hypocrisies and neuroses common to every man. A Changed Man was meant to be a social portrait, but she doesn’t quite succeed when focusing on a larger scope.

The story of these characters and their subsequent roles in each other’s lives are actually pretty predictable, which is somewhat disappointing. It felt like a cop-out; the reader can and will see the ending coming from a mile away. In addition, the pivotal incident in the heart of the book (where all three characters can prove how much they have or have not changed), which involves a nationally televised appearance by Meyer, Vincent, and redneck cousin Raymond, felt forced instead of inspired, a clear sign that Francine Prose cannot sustain the satirical tone that she set up in the earlier sections of the novel. But Francine Prose’s affection for the characters is always evident, and this prevents the novel from drowning in the preachiness that the writer intended to parody.

Originally posted in my Vox and my LJ. ( )