By Vincenzo Esposito
Homer & Langley is the new book written by the American author Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (Welcome to Hard Times, The Book of Daniel, Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, The March). It is a fictionalized account of the life of an extraordinary pair of brothers, Homer and Langley Collyer, who were born into one of New York City’s oldest families (Homer in 1881 and Langley in 1885) and lived in a fabulous building on Fifth Avenue in New York. The novel has an episodic structure, and touches on significant American historical events and changes taking place around the two eccentric brothers: they organize dance parties and serve alcohol in their home during Prohibition; meet notorious gangsters; watch their Japanese servants while they are taken to a prison camp during WW2; and even open up their home to a group of hippies for psychedelic experiences. But day after day, year after year, nothing happens any longer: Homer is trapped in his own body (blind and deaf) and Langley in his madness and compulsion to accumulate “useless” stuff. During their latest years they live as two reclusive, and refuse to pay any bills. The house begins to deteriorate around them: electricity, water and phone lines are eventually cut off. They die in their brownstone home, and are eventually found buried under tons of old newspapers, filth and clutter in their trapped house. Doctorow’s novel is extremely touching and engaging. The “black & white” atmosphere and the bittersweet taste make Homer & Langley one of the best American novel of this year.
Homer & Langley is the new book written by the American author Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (Welcome to Hard Times, The Book of Daniel, Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, The March). It is a fictionalized account of the life of an extraordinary pair of brothers, Homer and Langley Collyer, who were born into one of New York City’s oldest families (Homer in 1881 and Langley in 1885) and lived in a fabulous building on Fifth Avenue in New York. The novel has an episodic structure, and touches on significant American historical events and changes taking place around the two eccentric brothers: they organize dance parties and serve alcohol in their home during Prohibition; meet notorious gangsters; watch their Japanese servants while they are taken to a prison camp during WW2; and even open up their home to a group of hippies for psychedelic experiences. But day after day, year after year, nothing happens any longer: Homer is trapped in his own body (blind and deaf) and Langley in his madness and compulsion to accumulate “useless” stuff. During their latest years they live as two reclusive, and refuse to pay any bills. The house begins to deteriorate around them: electricity, water and phone lines are eventually cut off. They die in their brownstone home, and are eventually found buried under tons of old newspapers, filth and clutter in their trapped house. Doctorow’s novel is extremely touching and engaging. The “black & white” atmosphere and the bittersweet taste make Homer & Langley one of the best American novel of this year. 
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