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.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy