Doctorow, E. L.

Doctorow, E. L.

(Edgar Lawrence Doctorow) (dŏk`tərō'), 1931–2015, American novelist, b. New York City. The author of a dozen novels, Doctorow is known for his skillful blending of fiction and fact into reconstructions of eras in American history. His first work was a novel of the 19th-century West, Welcome to Hard Times (1960), but he did not win wide recognition until The Book of Daniel (1971), which is based on the Rosenberg CaseRosenberg Case,
in U.S. history, a lengthy and controversial espionage case. In 1950, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Julius Rosenberg (1918–53), an electrical engineer who had worked (1940–45) for the U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. . After that work, his books often featured a compelling combination of real and fictional characters. Doctorow's other novels include Ragtime (1975), which recreates pre–World War I America; Loon Lake (1980), which portrays American life during the Great DepressionGreat Depression,
in U.S. history, the severe economic crisis generally considered to have been precipitated by the U.S. stock-market crash of 1929. Although it shared the basic characteristics of other such crises (see depression), the Great Depression was unprecedented in its
..... Click the link for more information. ; World's Fair (1985; National Book Award), a semiautobiographical work set in the Bronx of the 1930s; Billy Bathgate (1989), a tale of Prohibition-era gangsters; The Waterworks (1994), set in 1870s New York; City of God (2000), a late 20th-century exploration of ideas and faith; The March (2005), an account of General ShermanSherman, William Tecumseh,
1820–91, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Lancaster, Ohio. Sherman is said by many to be the greatest of the Civil War generals.
..... Click the link for more information. 's Civil War march through Georgia; Homer & Langley (2009), the story of two New York hoarder-hermit brothers; and Andrew's Brain (2014), an early 20th-century scientist's ruminations on his life, memory, and mind. Doctorow also wrote short stories, e.g., those in Sweet Land Stories (2004) and All the Time in the World (2011), nonfiction, e.g., the essays collected in Reporting the Universe (2003) and the literary-critical appreciations in Creationists (2006), and a single stage drama, Drinks before Dinner (1978).

Bibliography

See R. Trenner, ed., E. L. Doctorow, Essays and Conversations (1983); C. D. Morris, ed., Conversations with E. L. Doctorow (1999); studies by P. Levine (1985), C. C. Harter and J. R. Thompson (1990), C. D. Morris (1991), J. G. Parks (1991), D. Fowler (1992), B. Siegel, ed. (2000), M. M. Tokarczyk (2000), and H. Bloom, ed. (2002).

Doctorow, E. L. (Edgar Lawrence)

(1931– ) writer; born in New York City. He published his first novel in 1960 while working as a literary editor and nine years later began to write professionally. The Book of Daniel (1971) established his reputation with its trademark mingling of fictional and historical characters. Later novels include Ragtime (1975) and World's Fair (1985). He taught at Sarah Lawrence College (1971–78) and New York University (1982).