From School Library Journal
Grade 10 Up-Written by scholars or literary experts, these essays discuss Doctorow's use of illusion and mirrors, music as a metaphor, the American dream, the boy narrator, the book's autobiographical elements, Ragtime as a tale of race and property, its historical figures and fictional characters, women's roles, the use of foreshadowing, and many other topics. Authors of individual chapters pick apart Ragtime for underlying meanings and facts, and it is interesting to see how several critics view it from different perspectives. This is the type of novel that is open to interpretation and students will gain a better understanding from reading all of the discussion. Doctorow is quoted in several chapters. Students looking for criticism and analysis of literary works will find it easy to use this title rather than searching endlessly for the journals in which these articles may have originally appeared. A valuable resource for literature collections.
Pat Bender, The Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, PACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
