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Product Description
Book Description
Published in 1975, Ragtime changed our very concept of what a novel could be. An extraordinary tapestry, Ragtime captures the spirit of America in the era between the turn of the century and the First World War.
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. And 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.
The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torch-bearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.
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. And 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.
The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torch-bearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.
From the Back Cover
The Modern Library of the World's
Best Books
"Ragtime is as exhilarating as a deep breath of pure oxygen....At times, the swift, short sentences suggest the
pristine flicker of silent film; at others, the sharp angles and sardonic deployment of detail in Citizen Kane....The grace and surface vivacity of Ragtime make it enormous fun to read. But beneath its peppy, bracing rhythms sound the neat, sad waltz of Gatsby and the tunes of betrayed promise. History resonates with special clarity here. Doctorow has found a fresh way to orchestrate the themes of American innocence, energy, and inchoate ambition."
--Newsweek --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
In 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
In 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting and Beautiful,
By Megan "Megan" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ragtime (Mass Market Paperback)
I delayed reading this book for many years, because it sounded sort of hokey. That was a HUGE mistake. It is one of the most beautiful books that I've ever read. It makes me cringe when people describe a book using the "tapestry" metaphor, but it is really fitting here: the reader watches, spellbound, as a city full of individual lives come and go and interact in surprising ways during a fascinating period of American history. Everyone is here: the Gilded Age millionaires, the upper middle class suburbanites, the newly-arrived immigrants, the writers and singers and musicians, the protesters. Every thread that still makes up a city appears and lives and works together. We see them all, and we see the world as they see it, even if only for a few moments. The book has some funny moments and some poignant moments, but ultimately it will leave you feeling like you've witnessed some very important events.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ragtime (Mass Market Paperback)
There's too much happening in this great novel to go into detail, but suffice it to say that if you're even remotely interested in history and/or good writing, this is the book for you. With scenes ranging from hysterical to repulsive (I'm referring to the one with the dead horse) E.L. Doctorow has given us a rollicking good time in the key of turn-of-the-century America, resplendent with all its ills and wonders. I hate to use this phrase, but it applies here: "I couldn't put it down!"Also recommended: McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood"
5.0 out of 5 stars
always a classic,
By Katy (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ragtime (Mass Market Paperback)
I first read this book in high school and have since read it again. It's one of my all time favorites. Ragtime captures the essence of the early 1900's in a way that's illuminating without becoming hokey or caricatured. While this portrayal in itself is satisfying, it is only a backdrop for an epic fable of class and love. The weaving together of three seperate tales keeps the reader interested by not lingering too long in any spot. It gets better I've time I read it.
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