Let me preface this with this: I LOVE E.L. Doctorow. Loved City of God. Loved Ragtime. Loved The Book of Daniel. So, ok...I didn't LOVE Homer & Langley, but at least I didn't finish the book thinking I had lost my facility to comprehend English.
I wish I could tell you I know what this book is about. There's a con-man/fugitive "protagonist" who is not at all likeable or even interestingly evil. There's a bizarre ladylove who dances in and out of self-respect every chapter or so. The most interesting character is a maid, who disappears from the narrative fairly early on. The depressed and eccentric poet holds promise, yet he also vanishes.
I get that this was an experiment. There are moments of that great Doctorow language that I treasure. But as a coherent book it fails. I totally understand that some people find this work a "stunning masterpiece" and "utterly compelling." Variety is definitely the spice of life, and I am probably the dry saltine of literature here, but this one really did not do it for me.
