Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow

'Ragtime' tells the intricate story of four New York families - three of which are fictional - at the turn of the 20th century, each indicative of that time in American history, and highlighting some of the downsides of following the American Dream. Starving immigrant artist Tateh will eventually set off to make his fortune in Hollywood, but not without a chance encounter with Evelyn Nesbit. Nesbit was the centre of the real-life infamous and, very compelling Thaw-White murder case, in which her mentally unstable millionaire husband Harry Kendall Thaw murdered her lover, the famed architect Stanford White. Another storyline follows the disintegration of an upper-class American family headed by the unnamed Mother and Father. Their seemingly perfect existence is shattered when black ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker, (loosely modelled on Scott Joplin) begins to romance a pregnant young woman living in their home. Walker, a dignified man, turns to rage when he is tormented by local racists. Historical figures such as Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T Washington, J P Morgan, Henry Ford, Admiral Peary, Matthew Henson and Emma Goldman also appear. This 1985 Picador Paperback is in good condition.

ISBN: 9780330288491 SKU: 1265129 Note: Any image shown is from a stock photo and is not the actual book.

Location: Fiction