A review by billnienaber
Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow

4.0

I've been a Doctorow fan for years, ever since I discovered The Book of Daniel while in college. He has an uncanny ability to write about historical characters and situations in a way that, while not necessarily remaining faithful to actual events, makes them more interesting and compelling. This novel is no exception. The eccentric and reclusive Collyer brothers make fascinating character studies, and although Doctorow takes considerable liberties with their actual lives, the basic obsessiveness and bizarre sort of mad genius are there. The brothers, one blind and one hopelessly enslaved by his junk-gathering obsession, crawl and wend their way through tunnels formed by unimaginable quantities of newspaper bundles stashed throughout their deceased parents' crumbling Fifth Avenue home, avoiding the many other obstacles collected over the years by Langley (including, and this is historically documented, a model T Ford in the dining room.) In fact, the brothers were both found dead in the house in the late 40s, Langley crushed by one of his own booby traps while crawling through the paper maze, and Homer a short distance away, partially paralyzed and dead of starvation. Doctorow chooses to allow them to live years longer, however; in fact, they are joined by a group of hippies in the late 60s who live with them for a short time. I'm guessing his reason for this digression from historical fact was to allow for even more objective scrutiny of the 20th century by a pair of men who were essentially removed from it by their own terms, and I think this worked well. The observations of various follies of the century are sharp and on target. Also, as usual, Doctorow's prose is careful, flowing and beautiful. This novel, much like all his others I've read, was a delight for me.