Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Readalikes
Francine Prose is the author of several novels, non-fiction books, and short story collections. She is a Visiting Professor of Literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center, a New York City-based literary society of writers, editors and translators that works to advance literature, defend free expression, and foster international literary fellowship.
She received the PEN Translation Prize in 1988 and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991. Prose's novel The Glorious Ones has been adapted into a musical with the same title. Her more recent works include My New American Life (2011), The Turning (2012) and Lovers at the Chameleon Club (2014).
Francine Prose's website
This bio was last updated on 10/17/2015. We try to keep BookBrowse's biographies both up to date and accurate, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's a tough task. So, please help us - if the information about this author is out of date or inaccurate, and you know of a more complete source, please let us know. Authors and publishers: If you wish to make changes to a bio, send the complete biography as you would like it displayed so that we can replace the old with the new.
You open your novel A Changed Man with a character most of your
readers probably have never met: the ex-skinhead Vincent Nolan. Was this
"changed man" the inspiration for the book?
I certainly began with him. I was on the subway in New York once, and I saw
these two very young skinheads -- all dressed up, with jackboots and shaved
heads -- and I noticed that they looked terrified, like they'd been dropped from
Mars. It was very clear to me that they were out of their element; this was not
their home territory at all. That made me curious about who they were and what
kind of people they were. Then I began to do research.
It's strange how life imitates art. Later I was in an elevator in Manhattan,
and there was a middle-aged guy with his hair growing over tattoos on his head
-- it looked as if a swastika had been there, and the laser removal hadn't done
a good job. I thought this is my character, 10 years later.
Were there other topics you were keeping in mind as you wrote?
My aim was to write about this character, but I wasn't necessarily writing
about neo-Nazis. I was writing about what it means to be a good person, what it
means to change -- and how our culture hypes this change, this growing. As I...
Christopher Buckley is a novelist, essayist, humorist, critic, magazine editor and memoirist. His books include Thank You for Smoking, The Judge Hunter, and The Relic Master. He worked as a merchant seaman and White House ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
A Changed Man
Try:
Boomsday
by Christopher Buckley
Alan Furst was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. An only child with older parents, he wandered alone or with friends around New York and learned to love the city and its people. He attended Oberlin College,... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932
Try:
Mission to Paris
by Alan Furst
We recommend 12 similar authors
Become a Member and discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten.
Black Widows
by Cate Quinn
A brilliant joyride in the company of three sister-wives with nothing in common except their dead husband.
Reader Reviews
Band of Sisters
by Lauren Willig
"A crackling portrayal of everyday American heroines…A triumph."
— Fiona Davis
Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
