WGBH Forum Network; E.L. Doctorow: Homer & Langley

Doctorow, E.L. · September 29, 2009

American novelist E.L. Doctorow talks about his new book, Homer & Langley, with noted publisher and editor Jason Epstein. American novelist E.L. Doctorow talks about his new book, Homer & Langley, with noted publisher and editor Jason Epstein.Doctorow once again delves into a true story of Americana to find inspiration for his most recent novel. The title characters are the infamous Collyer brothers, whose eccentricities included a shared snobbish nature and an obsession with hoarding and protecting their rapidly deteriorating property. Narrated by Homer, the novel examines the tumultuous history of 20th century America from the perspective of a pair of brothers who, while claustrophobically entangled in their surroundings, were also irredeemably alienated from them.