HOMER & LANGLEY

New York City, NY: Random House, 2009. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Random House, 2009. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 208 pages. The author's eleventh novel. One of E. L. Doctorow's 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. "Autographed Copy" gold round sticker pasted in front. 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). An absolute "must-have" title for E. L. Doctorow collectors. This Autographed Copy is very prominently, neatly, 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. 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. 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 writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER E. L. DOCTOROW TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1400064945.