The Tale of Homer and Langley Collyer's lives as told by E.L Doctorow exists where truth and fiction collide in a collosal collection of clutter, detritis, and "treasures" gathered over a lifetime of making their way in the world.
Brothers caught up in the events of 20th century New York, the Collyers are managing as best they can in a world that is passing them by. The material collected by Langley is originally a manageable assortment of newspapers, interesting items, and novelties. As time passes, the enormous piles of stuff consume their lives until they pass away under mountains of junk.
Assisted and befriended by a southern cook and her grandson, the Hoshiyamas, and assorted hippies, the brothers continue to observe life and carry on with a model T in the dining room and plans for an all-purpose, universal newspaper that Langley will create from all the newspapers stacking up around the house.
This blend of fact and fiction is an interesting historical view and was generally appreciated by our group as a light summer read and a cautionary tale by those of us with basements and closets to clean out before we are really in too deep.
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