E. L. Doctorow

Set in America in the early years of this century, this novel interweaves the stories of three representative families -- those of an upper middle-class manufacturer, a poor immigrant, and a black ragtime musician -- with historical personages such as J.P. Morgan, Emma Goldman, Houdini, et al who supposedly become involved with fictional characters.

Ragtime

Matthew Rasnake

I don' t have strong feelings about this book in any particular direction, it was better than 2 stars, but not quite three stars, so I rounded up to three.

The book was a mish-mash, interesting and entertaining at points, and occasionally engaging, but not consistently enough for me to ever truly enjoy it.

It was an interesting character study, though every character was broken in some way. It had a few explicit sexual encounters, some of which were interesting for their social connotations, and others which just seemed gratuitously provocative. It was also an interesting social commentary on times past, showing how the tides of social change wash over us, sometimes carrying us under and sometimes letting us ride the waves.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I had a stronger interest in historical fiction. As it is, for me it was a moderately interesting jumble of a book.

Ragtime

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