Set in turn-of-the-century New York, E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime seamlessly
blends fictional characters and realistic depictions of historical
figures to bring to life the events that defined American history in the
years before the First World War. This Penguin Modern Classics edition
includes an introduction by Al Alvarez.
Welcome to America at
the turn of the twentieth century, where the rhythms of ragtime set the
beat. Harry Houdini astonishes audiences with magical feats of escape,
the mighty J. P. Morgan dominates the financial world and Henry
Ford manufactures cars by making men into machines. Emma Goldman
preaches free love and feminism, while ex-chorus girl Evelyn Nesbitt
inspires a mad millionaire to murder the architect Stanford White. In
this stunningly original chronicle of an age, such real-life characters
intermingle with three remarkable families, one black, one Jewish and
one prosperous WASP, to create a dazzling literary mosaic that brings to
life an era of dire poverty, fabulous wealth, and incredible change -
in short, the era of ragtime.
E.L. Doctorow (b.1931) is one of
America's most accomplished and acclaimed living writers. Winner of the
National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award (twice),
the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the National Humanities Medal, he is the
author of nine novels that have explored the drama of American life from
the late 19th century to the 21st, including Ragtime, The Book of
Daniel and Billy Bathgate.
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
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£9.99