Simply: “A Changed Man” is Tom Wolfe on half-volume. For the most part, this is good. Prose’s prose has none of Wolfe’s clever schtick — it is straightforward, direct. And instead of nonstop cynicism, it is only partial cynicism. Well, no, it is nonstop cynicism, but you *feel* so much for these characters that you are willing to cut them some slack. Everyone on display here (sadly for them) is smart enough to know just how frequently they shelve their morality for an easy path to what they think they want. . .or what they think is expected of them. “A Changed Man” is 400+ pages of painfully familiar rationalizations.
The story focuses on a middle-aged suburban single mom slogging away as a fundraiser for a noble but past-its-prime charity called World Brotherhood Watch. The founder of said organization is an Elie Wiesel-esque Auschwitz survivor who, years ago, dedicated himself to ending hate. A few decades in to saving the world he is, although he’d never admit it, burned out. One day in walks a neo-Nazi skinhead who says he wants to change his life around. He’s given up on hate and wants to stop other kids from following his path. He seems noble, but he’s also looking for a place to crash. What follows is a droll romp through public relations, non profit high society, Tim McVeigh’s execution (everything is set just a few months before 9/11), not one but two Radical Chic-inspired dinners, paranoid stoner high schoolers, latently gay (probably) middle schoolers and, finally, the Holy Grail. . . a guest spot on a show very similar to Oprah’s.
Laughs all the way, but it is a depressing book. Still, there is hope. There is hope because even if Man isn’t as noble as he is supposed to be, he at least knows he is supposed to try and pretend. And that’s something, right?
Hats way off for this book.
