“not a conscious decision, but somewhere along the line I must have realised a slice of time was as valid an organising principle for a novel as a bit of acreage”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
Figure timeline
E. L. Doctorow
Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was an American novelist, editor, and professor, known for his historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama, including the award-winning novels Ragtime (1975), Billy Bathgate (1989), and The March (2005). These, like many of his other works, placed fictional characters in recognizable historical contexts, with known historical…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · American novelist and editor (1931–2015) · novelist · writer · screenwriter · university teacher · playwright · essayist · professor · author · also E. L. Doctorow, Edgar Laurence Doctorow, Edgar Lawrence Doctorow, Doctorow
Born 6 January 1931 · Died 21 July 2015 · Q335232
45 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
3 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
I like commas. I detest semi-colons – I don’t think they belong in a story. And I gave up quotation marks long ago. I found I didn’t need them, they were fly-specks on the page. If you’re doing it right,
85%The GuardianSource
2026· 5 entries
“I like commas. I detest semi-colons – I don’t think they belong in a story. And I gave up quotation marks long ago. I found I didn’t need them, they were fly-specks on the page. If you’re doing it right,”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
The Guardian: ‘You can’t make billions without hurting people’: Cory Doctorow on Elon Musk, the AI bubble and bosses’ cruel fantasies
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow review – the real price of artificial intelligence
- #news
- #headline
Public attention spiked: 2,501 Wikipedia readers in one day, 7.8× the usual 321, with 0 article edits.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #attention
- #spike
- #pageviews
2021· 1 entry
Published “Competitive compatibility” in Communications of the ACM — cited 13 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
2015· 3 entries
Digital Journal: American novelist E.L. Doctorow dies, age 84
- #news
- #headline
Jewish Journal: E.L. Doctorow, ‘Ragtime’ author, dies at 84
- #news
- #headline
Died 2015-07-21.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
2012· 2 entries
Doctorow spoke at City University of New York, communicating the effectiveness of non-linear narratives when crafting historic works
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Published “Secure the Internet” in Nature — cited 8 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
2009· 1 entry
Cleveland.com: E.L. Doctorow's 'Homer and Langley' is beautiful and bleak
- #news
- #headline
2008· 2 entries
Awarded St. Louis Literary Award (2008).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Published “Big data: Welcome to the petacentre” in Nature — cited 55 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
2006· 3 entries
Awarded PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The March (2006).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction (2006).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Published “Printcrime” in Nature — cited 2 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
2005· 2 entries
Awarded National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for The March (2005).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Published “The March” in Modern Language Studies — cited 2 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
2003· 2 entries
Published “Literary Narrative and Information Culture: Garbage, Waste, and Residue in the Work of E. L. Doctorow” in Contemporary Literature — cited 3 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
2006: Creationists: Selected Essays, 1993–2006
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2001· 1 entry
Donated his papers to the Fales Library of New York University
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2000· 1 entry
Awarded Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service (2000).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1998· 2 entries
Awarded Helmerich Award (1998).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Won National Humanities Medal (1998).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1990· 2 entries
Awarded PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for Billy Bathgate (1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Won William Dean Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1989· 1 entry
Awarded National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for Billy Bathgate (1989).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1986· 1 entry
Awarded National Book Award for Fiction (1986).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1984· 1 entry
Signed a letter protesting German arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1981· 1 entry
Published “Use of a priori-a posteriori models of change in policy analysis: Applications to simulating the white flight phenomenon” in Policy Sciences — cited 2 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
1978· 2 entries
Published “Generative processes in reading comprehension.” in Journal of Educational Psychology — cited 6 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
Published “Generative processes in reading comprehension.” in Journal of Educational Psychology — cited 124 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
1975· 3 entries
Awarded National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for Ragtime (1975).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Published “Reading as a generative process.” in Journal of Educational Psychology — cited 71 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
Published “The Government Program of 17 October 1905” in Russian Review — cited 3 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
1974· 1 entry
Published “Word Frequency and Reading Comprehensiony<sup>1</sup>” in The Journal of Educational Research — cited 58 times.
- #crossref
- #research
- #work
1972· 1 entry
Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (1972).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1969· 1 entry
Doctorow left publishing to pursue a writing career
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1960· 1 entry
With Wirt Williams of The New York Times describing it as "taut and dramatic, exciting and successfully symbolic
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1954· 2 entries
Doctorow married fellow Columbia University student Helen Esther Setzer while serving in the U
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And 1955, he served as a corporal in the Signal Corps in West Germany
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1953· 1 entry
Studied at Columbia University (1952–1953).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #education
1952· 1 entry
Completed a year of graduate work in English drama at Columbia University before being drafted into the U
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1931· 1 entry
Born 1931-01-06.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth