A Changed Man

By: Francine Prose

Narrated by: Eric Conger

"Francine Prose has a knack for getting to the heart of human nature.... We are allowed to enter the moral dilemmas of fascinating characters whose emotional lives are strung out by the same human frailties, secrets and insecurities we all share." (USA Today)

One spring afternoon, Vincent Nolan, a young neo-Nazi walks into the office of a human rights foundation headed by Meyer Maslow, a charismatic Holocaust survivor. Vincent announces that he wants to make a radical change. But what is Maslow to make of this rough-looking stranger with Waffen SS tattoos who says that his mission is to save guys like him from becoming guys like him?

As Vincent gradually turns into the sort of person who might actually be able to do that, he also begins to transform everyone around him, including Maslow himself. Masterfully plotted, darkly comic, A Changed Man poses essential questions about human nature, morality, and the capacity for change, illuminating the everyday transactions, both political and personal, in our lives.

©2005 Francine Prose (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Prose tears into this unusual premise with the piercing wit that has become her trademark....Her lively skewering of a whole cross-section of society ensures that this tale hits comic high notes even as it probes serious issues." (Publishers Weekly)
"Riotously funny....Like novelist Richard Russo, Prose uses humor to light up key social issues, to skewer smugness, and to create characters whose flaws only add to their depth and richness. This may well be Prose's best novel to date." (Booklist)

Hmmmm

Well I eagerly listened to this book having read the other reviews, but I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. I enjoyed the fact that one often saw the same events from the perspective of different characters. However, I did not find the characters totally believable. I was never convinced that Vincent had really changed and the explanation he gave for his shift in perspective was pretty unbelievable. I found Maslow's ambivalience about his personal ambition versus his "good works" interesting, but didnt feel this aspect of the story was properly explored. At its conclusion it felt like the book finished with many unresolved issues and no proper closure.

This needs to be a movie

This was a great story line with a narrator that added a lot of natural appeal. I was hoping this book wouldn't end. When it finally did end, I was a disappointed in the way the author left the listener wanting a little more. Don't get me wrong, I still highly recommend this book.

Character Study

This isn't a page-turner. It tells its story by way of each character thinking out loud, so we know a great deal about their perspective on the storyline. However, I never really felt like I believed Vincent or his reasons for changing. The author had some insights spread throughout the book, but it wasn't riveting, engaging, or one that I was sad to see end. The whole book felt flat to me.

One of my favorite audio books!

The author's skill, especially when reflecting the thoughts behind the character's actions, was an interesting and FUN study in human psychology. The story took several unexpected turns which I loved, and which held my interest.

The characters were richly complex and the story entertaining. It's about real life, real characters - both perfect and flawed. I loved it!

A Changed Man is unpredictable

I like page-turners but when a book is also surprising, informative and well crafted, I love it. A Changed Man is all of this. It's honesty is sometimes shocking and would likely confuse younger readers. But the story-telling is incredible. A Changed Man is so well written that when I saw there was a minute and 42 seconds left I thought my reader was broken. With 25 seconds left I thought something had to be wrong. Boy was I in for a surprise!

A Changed man

In this wonderfully crafted book, Ms. Prose manages to let us both look in, with sympathy, on her characters and look out from their eyes. I think the key to the story--and I admit it pretty much hits the reader over the head--is the duffel bag the ex-skinhead drags around with him, whether on the run or in a seemingly safe haven. We all have baggage, of course, and it always comes with us, whether we reveal it, don't reveal it, or just leave it sitting around until someone discovers it. The characters' thoughts are arrogant one moment, slipping toward humility the next, soft with love the next--ideas as bouncy, biased, and contradictory as those in our own heads. The narrator did a really good job of expressing these inner workings of the characters.

When I had to leave the world--or should I say worlds--of Bonnie and her kids, Vincent and his cousin, and Maslow and his institution, I was left to ponder my own rationales, irrationalities, and beliefs with some tenderness. I think the novel shows us we are always changing, and we are never entirely changed.

Engaging

I could not stop listening. I would be sitting in front of work and I would have to drag myself out of my car it was that good. I thought that the narrator was excellent and I was a bit lost once I finished it. Definetely give this one a go. Also read the Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold as that was another favourite.

Loved it

This was a great book. Funny and well written, and I really came to love all the main characters, especially Bonnie (she took off her glasses)and Danny, but also Vincent and Meyer. No one was a carictature (even Raymond, who was sympathetic in his own way), well, except maybe Lo the Ho, but she deserved it, everyone was complex. The narration was pitch perfect. I understand people's complaint about the ending, but it had to be that way - leaving you to imagine how things will work out and hope that they do. One of those books that you are really sad to realize has ended

Masterpiece

As usual Francine Prose does not disappoint , even though written in 2005 most relevant in today’s climate . It’s a tense story of redemption & exploitation , exquisitely narrated with just the right inflection , as Prose wrote in her essay on reading , every word is crafted so don’t skim . It would be wrong to give the story away so either listen or read or both as I frequently do & enjoy a masterpiece .

A Wonderful Experience

An incredibly well-written, engrossing book that is even more enhanced by the great reader. He has a wonderful talent for individualizing each character, and Francine Prose has such a gift for writing real people- thoughts and feelings that just strike so close to the way we all would think and act. I loved this experience!