I just saw that E.O.Doctorow has written a fictionalized account of the Collyer brothers descent into madness and reclusiveness.
Many years ago, I read (from a Reader’s Digest Condensed novel) a similr story…it was written in the 1950’s probably. Anybody know the name of the novel?
As I rcall, the Collyers were fairly wealthy and prominent in 1900 NYC-what cause the kids to turn into recluses?
The phenomenon is fairly common-a few years back, two women were found dead in a house in Boston-most of the rooms of the house were filled with junk.
Homer & Langley by E. L. Doctorow.
Sorry…I realized too late that you meant the older book.
My Brother’s Keeper by Marcia Davenport is (loosely) based on the Collyer brothers, and did appear in a RD condensed collection, so it’s a good bet to be the one you wanted.
I’m off to the library, t pick up “My Bother’s Keeper”.
Yeah, Davenport’s book is almost surely the one you were thinking of. I read awhile back that the late Jerry Yulsman, who wrote the wonderful time travel story Elleander Morning, was researching for a Collyer Brothers book before he heard of Davenport’s book and unfortunately then just dropped the project.
I think the Collyers are a fascinating story. I hope with Doctorow’s book that it’s more likely there’ll be a movie made; two older actors could easily get Oscars out of it, if it’s done right: Collyer brothers - Wikipedia
I looked at the Doctorow book at the bookstore. It looks fascinating, and I have enjoyed previous Doctorow books.
This one, however, appears to be about 100 pages long and sells for $26.00 and change. I couldn’t justify spending that much on something I’ll read in a couple hours. I may check to see if I can get it on Kindle a little cheaper. Or check out the Davenport book, used.
This novel was a best seller in 1954-there was nothing by Marcia Davenport on the shelf.
I looked on ABE Books, but the only reasonably priced copy was the Reader’s Digest condensed version. I guess novels don’t stay popular for long…unless its a classic.