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Doctorow, E. L : Homer & Langley

Random House, New York City, NY, 2009

ISBN 1400064945

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 208 pages. The author's eleventh novel. One of E. L. Doctorow's most original and finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Easton Press edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents E. L. Doctorow's "Homer & Langley". His fourth novel on New York City. The preceding novels in the Series are "Ragtime", "World's Fair", and "The Waterworks". From what is perhaps its most unusual, moving, and intriguing perspective yet: The legendary Collyer Brothers, Homer and Langley, lifelong recluses in their Fifth Avenue mansion, where they accumulate anything and everything from the outside world that they have paradoxically chosen to shut out of their private lives. The accumulation amounts to a history of both New York City and the 20th century. "Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously written, this mesmerizing narrative, a free imaginative rendering of the lives of New York's fabled Collyer Brothers, is a family story with the resonance of myth, an astonishing masterwork unlike any that have come before from this great writer" (Publisher's blurb). "History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth. So to be irreverent to myth, to play with it, let in some light and air, to try to combust it back into history, is to risk being seen as someone who distorts truth" (E. L. Doctorow). E. L. Doctorow died on July 21, 2015 at the age of 84, an irreplaceable loss. An absolute "must-have" title for E. L. Doctorow collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in blue pen-marker on the title page by E. L. Doctorow. It is signed directly on the page itself, not a tipped-in page or bookplate. Laid-in is a copy of the Souvenir Program of the event during which his signature was obtained. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Late in life, E. L. Doctorow seldom did public signings, and when he did, limited the number of books he was willing to sign. As a result, his Limited Editions, while highly collectible, are often more widely available than copies of the First Hardcover Editions, which are signed directly on the title page rather than on a tipped-in leaf. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the very first National Book Critics Circle Award in 1976 for "Ragtime". Winner of the National Book Award in 1986 for "World's Fair". Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Winner of the PEN/Faulkner, and a second National Book Critics Circle Award in 2006 for "The March". One of the greatest American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER E. L. DOCTOROW TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1400064945.

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