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Ragtime cover art

Ragtime

By: E. L. Doctorow
Narrated by: E. L. Doctorow
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Summary

Ragtime, a classic work of historical fiction first published in 1975, details the lives of three families in early 20th-century New York. The novel interweaves fictional characters with actual historic events and figures.

The story opens in 1906 in New Rochelle, New York, at the home of an affluent American family. One lazy Sunday afternoon, the famous escape artist Harry Houdini swerves his car into a telephone pole outside their house. Almost magically, the line between fantasy and historical fact, between real and imaginary characters, disappears. Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J. P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, and Emiliano Zapata slip in and out of the tale, crossing paths with Doctorow's imagined family and other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler and a ragtime musician from Harlem whose insistence on a point of justice drives him to revolutionary violence.

A rich tapestry, Ragtime captures the spirit of America in a unique historic context.

Time magazine included the novel in its Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923-2005.
©1997 E. L. Doctorow (P)1997 E. L. Doctorow
Literary Fiction Psychological Historical Fiction
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Critic reviews

"Doctorow does a fairly nice job reading his justly celebrated portrait of 1906 America. He has a sandy, pleasant, lightly accented voice and a fine sense of the dramatic." ( AudioFile)

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Profile Image for Rob Vangundy

Extraordinary

That most elusive of holy grails — the great American novel. And read by the author himself. This is a gem!

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Profile Image for Lana

A testimony of an era

I read this novel quite some time ago; I loved it then, I think it a masterpiece now.
Beautifully written and well read by the author ( doesn't halen that often), this novel is a sheer bliss.

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Profile Image for Sally Ann Cook

Intriguing history of early 1900’s American scandals.

Enjoyable and fascinating story of events before World War1 and the beginning of social change.

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Profile Image for Eamon

Brilliant

A fantastic listen and very enjoyable .
Gripped me totally from start to finish
Well worth the time .

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2 people found this helpful