2005 book 28

francine prose's a changed man
the folks over at bookslut have been praising this book to the heavens, so i figured i'd give it a go myself, despite my leeriness re: its subject matter. it's about a white supremacist who shows up at a human rights organization run by a well-known Holocaust survivor, claiming he's had a change of heart and wants to "save guys like me from becoming guys like me," and he ends up staying with the organization's divorcee fundraiser and her two teenage sons. i mean, it sounded like it could be more than a little bit tacky--but it isn't! it's actually rife with dark humor (i laughed out loud a few times) and the characters are really compelling. the tension of the book also works well--you just know those white supremacist guys aren't going to let a guy off the hook who steals a truck and cash and drugs and then goes and joins a human rights foundation. this is definitely one of the best books i've read this year--i even found its resolution satisfying, when it easily could have gotten smarmy. don't let its weird-looking cover throw you off--it's worth the read.