num_pages: 270
description: 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 and Henry Ford manufactures cars by making men into machines. Emma Goldman preaches free love and 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 and one prosperous WASP, to create a dazzling literary mosaic that brings to life an era of dire poverty, fabulous wealth, and incredible change - in short, the era of ragtime.
language: English
title: Ragtime
titlecomplete: Ragtime
characters: Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, Evelyn Nesbit, Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Coalhouse Walker
genres: Fiction, Historical, American, Literature, Classics, Novels, New York, Historical Fiction, 20th Century, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 42937
places: New Rochelle, New York, Manhattan, New York City, New York, New York City, New York
awards: awardedAt: 189331200000
name: Nebula Award
category: Novel, awardedAt: 157795200000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Penguin Modern Classics