The current literary criticism surrounding E. L. Doctorow’s compendium of literary genius ranges from discussing Doctorow 's ability to mix the historical with fiction resulting in a concoction that reveals truths one might not have previously been able to discern, and to the explication of his works by looking into the growth of the characters in his novels both psychologically and morally and what it might mean on a grander scale. In Minako Baba’s “The Young Gangster As a Mythic American Hero: E. L. Doctorow’s Billy Bathgate” he analyzes the novel of Billy Bathgate and examines the character of Billy’s growth over the period of the story. This allows for Baba to argue, that based on the growth, both psychologically and morally of the character,