Author reads, speaks on fiction

November 12, 2009 by Victoria Gonzalez 

Famed writer an asset to Black Mountain Institute, UNLV

A Black Mountain Institute fellow visited UNLV after a busy few weeks to teach and entertain.

UNLV’s 2009 Elias Ghanem Chair in Creative Writing, E.L. Doctorow, read portions of his book “Homer & Langley” Tuesday in the Student Union Ballroom.

Doctorow wrote “Homer & Langley” based on the Collyer brothers, who were found dead in their New York brownstone home in 1947.

He said he thought of it as instant folklore.

During the reading, Doctorow said the brothers came from a well-to-do family in the 1880s. In the story, one day they decided to close their doors and shutters.

Doctorow said the brothers are housebound for most of the book and become collectors and hoarders.

“They opted out of civilization and pulled us in with them,” Doctorow said in his introduction.

Throughout the reading, Doctorow said that he concentrated on the mythological lives of the brothers, not the historical part, and gave their lives his own interpretation and meaning.

“The brothers exist as… folklore, mythical characters,” Doctorow said.

He chose to read a section of the book during which the brothers have children ‘crashing’ at their Fifth Avenue house. The children are young adults, ages 18 to 23.

Homer, the blind brother who lives in the house, narrates the story.

In a question and answer session with the audience, Doctorow said that he does not really read his own books.

“The book is not completed until it is read [by the reader],” Doctorow said.

He went on to say that if a novel or work of literature is perfect, it dies, giving the example of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark.”

Audience member and film major Daniel Jaidar said he thought the event was positive. He wondered why there were not more attendees, particularly students from the English department.

“It is unfortunate more students didn’t show up,” Jaidar said.

English department chair Richard Harp said he was excited to have Doctorow come read at UNLV.

“It is always exciting and rewarding to be in the presence of a famous figure like Doctorow, to shake his hand, to ask questions and receive a direct personal answer, to be able to say that one has met him and had a book signed by him, which can be a permanent part of one’s personal library collection,” Harp said. “But it also is a great advantage for us to be able to hear him read from his work. When an author does this, it gives us a more personal slant on what otherwise are silent words on a page.”

Harp said that Doctorow’s reading offers a tremendous variety of first-rate literary and cultural offerings, which could bring nationally respected figures to Las Vegas and showcase some of the university’s own distinguished figures.

“I was interested to visit the city,” Doctorow said. “It has definitely changed and grown. It has genuine cultural roots.”

“I was invited [to come read]… it’s interesting. I didn’t realize Las Vegas had such a lively university,” Doctorow said.

Doctorow also gave a creative writing class and led a discussion on the craft of fiction Tuesday.

“He’s done a fantastic job. He has been very generous with his work with the BMI and we are grateful for his work with UNLV and students,” said Amber Withycombe, assistant director for the BMI.

Withycombe said Doctorow is a prominent American author and it was important to bring him to UNLV.

“It certainly contributes to UNLV’s prestige as an academic institution to have a visit from a world-renowned author [like] E.L. Doctorow,” Harp said.

Doctorow, whose full name is Edgar Lawrence Doctorow, served briefly in the Army and read movie scripts before completing his first novel in 1960, “Welcome to Hard Times.” Published in more than 32 countries, Doctorow is a native of New York.