E.L. Doctorow

(1931 - 2015)

Born in the Bronx, E.L. Doctorow was the author of twelve novels, most of them steeped in the history of America. Critic Peter S. Prescott wrote in 1984 that “the distinguished characteristic of E.L. Doctorow’s work is its double vision. In each of his books he experiments with the forms of fiction, working for effects that others haven’t already achieved; in each he develops a tone, a structure and a texture that he hasn’t used before. At the same time, he’s a deeply traditional writer, reworking American history, American literary archetypes, even exhausted subliterary genres. It’s an astonishing performance, really.”