Doctorow's take on the story of Homer and Langley Collyer was an entertaining and quick read. Presented as Homer's memior, we see through his blind eyes how he and his disabled veteran brother increasingly withdraw from a world that decreasingly makes sense - or perhaps never made sense and keeps repeating itself.

I enjoyed how Homer attempts to rationalize both his brother's increasingly strange behavior and his own self-imposed isolation. Having history weave its way into their house is a unique way to review the 20th century. It seemed to show what an exercise in futility most major events were and how little progress was made in that course of time.

What I also appreciated was the brothers' shunning of their wealth, their goal of self-sufficiency, and their increasingly individualist and libertarian leanings. There are many good lines about cops, wars, the state and capitalism in there. And I loved the excellent and depressing ending.