Ragtime

Product Description

Set in turn-of-the-century New York, E.L. Doctorow`s ” Ragtime” seamlessly blends fictional characters & 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 & Henry Ford manufactures cars by making men into machines. Emma Goldman preaches free love & 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 & one prosperous WASP, to create a dazzling literary mosaic that brings to life an era of dire poverty, fabulous wealth, & incredible change
- in short, the era of ragtime. E.L. Doctorow (b.1931) is one of America`s most accomplished & acclaimed living writers. Winner of the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award (twice), the PEN/ Faulkner Award, & 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” & ” Billy Bathgate”. If you enjoyed ” Ragtime”, you might like John Dos Passos` ”U.S.A.”, also available in ” Penguin Classics”. ” In its perfection it stuns & holds from beginning to end”. (” Daily Mail”). ” Witty, lyrical, put together with admirable craft.. .dazzling economy & insight... Mr Doctorow knows what he is doing & has done it beautifully”. (” Guardian”). ” One of the best American novels for years”. (” Economist”).