Homer and Langley Collyer were a pair of brothers who were caught up in the madness created by their own minds; Homer was the more dominant, Langley the pliable and amenable. Mr. Doctorow fails to give them even the semblance of human beings and instead indulges in numerous flights of fantasy, none of which have the slightest resemblance to reality. Case in point: PROSTITUTES!!!??? Homer and Langley were chaste to the point of total celibacy and in addition came from an extremely strict Victorian background! Who does Mr. Doctorow think he is to presume to think for the pair of brothers who, through no fault of their own, descended into the depths of total madness, manifested by the huge amounts of junk they accumulated. Mr. Doctorow would do well to read Marcia Davenport's "My Brother's Keeper", which is an excellent account of the Collyer brothers in all their glory, where every page is a PEARL, etc., etc., etc.