One day, Vincent Nolan, who is a neo-Nazi, walks into the human rights foundation World Brotherhood Watch. He claims he wants to stop other men from doing what he has done. Vincent is sincere, but matters are complicated by the fact that he also needs refuge from his cousin, the man who took him in when he had nowhere else to go, indoctrinated him into neo-Nazism and whose truck and cash he stole. Still, Meyer Maslow, the Holocaust-survivor director of the organization, recognizes the opportunity for what it is — and asks his fundraiser Bonnie to take him in.
Bonnie is a single mother of two boys. She is eager to please and has a hard time saying no. Reluctantly, she takes Vincent in. Over time, a strange sort of relationship develops — both she and Vincent are like injured animals licking each other’s wounds. Similarly, Vincent has an electric effect on Meyer, who starts to see that his life’s work has become stale — instead of being out in the world doing, he stays in the office organizing. As Vincent starts speaking publicly, the characters all start to evolve. Ultimately, however, Vincent is terrified his cousin will find him. And of course, he does.
I started A Changed Man with high expectations — which weren’t so much disappointed as they were withered. Prose does an excellent job characterizing each of her protaganists; they all display a compelling and thoughtful internal landscape. But while the plot has promise, somehow it was a bit disappointing — especially the end, which seemed tacked on.