E. L. Doctorow (1931–2015)
Author of Ragtime: A Novel
About the Author
E. L. (Edgar Lawrence) Doctorow was born on January 6, 1931, in the Bronx, New York. He received an A.B. in philosophy in 1952 from Kenyon College and did graduate work at Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1953-1955. He began his career as a script reader for CBS show more Television and Columbia Pictures and as a senior editor for the New American Library. He was editor-in-chief for Dial Press from 1964 to 1969, where he also served as vice president and publisher in his last year on staff. It was at this time that he decided to write full time. He wrote novels, short stories, essays, and a play. His debut novel, Welcome to Hard Times, was published in 1960 and was adapted into a film in 1967. His other works include, Loon Lake, The Waterworks, The March, Homer and Langley, and Andrew's Brain. He won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1986 for World's Fair and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1976 for Ragtime, which was adapted into a film in 1981 and a Broadway musical in 1998. Billy Bathgate received the PEN/Faulkner Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the William Dean Howells Medal in 1990. The Book of Daniel and Billy Bathgate were also adapted into films. He received the 2013 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters for his outstanding achievement in fiction writing. He died of complications from lung cancer on July 21, 2015 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by E. L. Doctorow
A House on the Plains 13 copies
Jolene: A Life [short story] 2 copies
An American Tragedy 1 copy
אגם הטבלנים 1 copy
The Hunter [short story] 1 copy
Bad man from Bodie 1 copy
Willi [short story] 1 copy
The Unfeeling President 1 copy
Associated Works
A World of Ideas : Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today and the Ideas Shaping Our… (1989) — Interviewee — 548 copies
The Call of the Wild, White Fang & To Build a Fire (Modern Library Classics) (1998) — Introduction, some editions — 293 copies
The Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now (2008) — Contributor — 153 copies
Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction About Learning to Be American (1999) — Contributor — 102 copies
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (Expanded 10th-Anniversary Edition) (2008) — Contributor — 93 copies
Nation 1865–1990: Selections from the Independent Magazine of Politics and Culture (1990) — Introduction — 88 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Doctorow, Edgar Lawrence
- Birthdate
- 1931-01-06
- Date of death
- 2015-07-21
- Burial location
- Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York, USA
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- The Bronx, New York, USA
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Cause of death
- cancer (lung)
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
New Rochelle, New York, USA
Germany - Education
- Bronx High School of Science, New York, New York, USA
Kenyon College (AB|1952)
Columbia University - Occupations
- novelist
editor
professor - Relationships
- Henslee, Helen (spouse)
- Organizations
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
New American Library
Dial Press
New York University
US Army - Awards and honors
- State Author of New York/Edith Wharton Citation of Merit (1989-91)
Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement (2002)
National Humanities Medal (1998)
American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (1976)
F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Fiction (1999)
American Philosophical Society (2007) (show all 8)
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Fiction (2013)
Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction (2014)
Members
Discussions
Group Read, November 2017: City of God in 1001 Books to read before you die (November 2017)
Reviews
Lists
THE WAR ROOM (1)
Same Title (1)
AP Lit (1)
2022 books (1)
Fiction For Men (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 49
- Also by
- 32
- Members
- 23,113
- Popularity
- #914
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 651
- ISBNs
- 538
- Languages
- 23
- Favorited
- 51