Doctorow is a celebrated bestselling author of American historical fiction, a professor at NYU, and a stalwart lefty.

Born in the Bronx, Doctorow had a very typical experience at Kenyon, studying under poet and critic John Crowe Ransom, starring in college theater, and majoring in philosophy. His graduate studies at Columbia were interrupted when he was drafted into the Army during German occupation, and upon his return he worked as a reader for a movie studio and was inspired to write his first book Welcome to Hard Times after reading countless scripts for Westerns. He's perhaps best known for his novels The Book of Daniel, which the Guardian called a "masterpiece," and Ragtime, which the Modern Literary editorial board called one of the 100 best novels of the 20th Century. He's also supplemented his writing career with teaching gigs at some of the country's best writing programs, like Sarah Lawrence, UC Irvine, Princeton, and NYU. [Image via Getty]