E.L. Doctorow builds a 'World' of odd characters

By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY

E.L. Doctorow describes the characters who populate his newest collection of short stories as "distinct from their surroundings ? people in some sort of contest with the prevailing world."

• 

  In his newest collection of short stories, E.L. Doctorow examines the lives of people who are at odds with the world around them.

In his newest collection of short stories, E.L. Doctorow examines the lives of people who are at odds with the world around them.

That would be an understatement.

Where to begin? The husband and father who abandons his upper-middle-class suburban life to live as a hermit above his garage, spying on his family and eating out of the garbage can? The bus boy who marries a headstrong Russian immigrant to get a promotion? The couple who falls apart when a stranger arrives at their front door, telling them he'd grown up in their house?

Doctorow's newest collection contains six stories that have never appeared in book form before, as well as a few of his classics. Some have appeared in The New Yorker.

The author of Ragtime and Billy Bathgate? and winner of most every book award given ? has not lost his ability to pull in the reader, although one should be prepared to spend some time with an odd assortment of folks.

All the Time in the World: New and Selected Stories

By E. L. Doctorow

Random House, 272 pp., $26

Walter John Harmon, for example. A cult leader who abandons his flock.

"Walter John Harmon has done what was both required and foreordained by the nature of his prophecy," writes Doctorow. "Not only had he forsaken us who had loved him and depended upon him, but by running off with one of the purified wives, he had cast doubt upon the central tenet of his teaching. What further proof did we need of this prophecy than his total immersion in sin and disgrace? It was thrilling."

The mystery, tension and shock Doctorow is known for are all here in this collection. If you're a fan you will not be disappointed in the new, and happy to be reacquainted with the old.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

Marisa Tomei Samaire Armstrong Amber Arbucci Nikki Cox Melissa Sagemiller