E.L. Doctorow Speaks About Writing Historical Fiction

E.L. Doctorow spoke with The Daily Beast's Eric Alterman about the writing of Homer & Langley, an historical fiction in which Doctorow reimagines the lives of two famous obsessive-compulsive New York hermits. Of the brothers, who in 1947 were found dead amidst huge piles of detritus in their Harlem mansion, Doctorow says:

“These guys opted out, that’s what happened, they retreated into the house, close the door, close the shutters, and it was a form of emigration. They had emigrated to another country, and like all acts of emigration it was momentous. They are not pack rats, they are aggregators like Google—curators of American civilization."

Read the article. It may shift your view of historical fiction. It did mine.