What readers think of Homer & Langley, plus links to write your own review.

I would recommend this book to everyone, you will find a little piece of Langley and Homer in yourself, very relate-able characters. people that are hoarders really need to read this book. This book should be available in every public school library.

I read in several "professional" reviews that Mr. D. does not go far enough into the minds of these fascinating characters or the history of the times that surround them. I must say this is called eloquence. When an author of his ability can tell the reader what needs to be told in 208 pages ... the reader gets a tiny look towards perfection.

Historical fiction should offer a new perspective on real-life events or people, adding details created by the author to supplement what is known and factual. I felt like Doctorow didn’t do enough of that. The book, to me, felt a bit too “light,” with too little included that wasn’t part of the historical record. It was entertaining enough, but I didn’t feel like I had a better understanding of the brothers’ situation or point of view by the book’s end.

Homer and Langley Collyer were a pair of brothers who were caught up in the madness created by their own minds; Homer was the more dominant, Langley the pliable and amenable. Mr. Doctorow fails to give them even the semblance of human beings and instead indulges in numerous flights of fantasy, none of which have the slightest resemblance to reality. Case in point: PROSTITUTES!!!??? Homer and Langley were chaste to the point of total celibacy and in addition came from an extremely strict Victorian background! Who does Mr. Doctorow think he is to presume to think for the pair of brothers who, through no fault of their own, descended into the depths of total madness, manifested by the huge amounts of junk they accumulated. Mr. Doctorow would do well to read Marcia Davenport's "My Brother's Keeper", which is an excellent account of the Collyer brothers in all their glory, where every page is a PEARL, etc., etc., etc.