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Ragtime

Ragtime Unknown - 1980

by E. L. Doctorow


About this book

Ragtime, E. L. Doctorow’s best-known novel, highlights the American melting pot and how the nation came to be what it is today. Set in the early 1900s, the story namely focuses on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York, simply named Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and the boy. The boy, Father and Mother's young son, perhaps narrates the novel from a reminiscent adult perspective, but the omniscient narrator is never decidedly identified. The family’s turn-of-the-century journey of adaption addresses the tensions between reacting to the evolution of the era and executing revolution.

Yet Ragtime is far more than the family’s narrative. In a beautiful execution of historical fiction, the novel weaves together biographical subplots of prominent figures of the day, including J.P. Morgan, Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, Sigmund Freud, and Emma Goldman. The result: Ragtime focuses not on just the nameless or the famous, but how the two groups create history together.

Written when Vietnam was drawing to a close, Ragtime addresses issues that were affecting America at the time—from the abuse of power to racism to using sex to sell just about anything—but it also includes classic and enduring themes of morality, repression and injustice, change, and time.

Ragtime was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1975. It also won the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award the following year. The novel was adapted for a 1981 movie and a 1998 Tony award-winning Broadway musical. Ragtime is included in TIME’s “100 Best Novels” (since 1923) and ranked 86th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.

First line

In 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Broad-view Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York.

First Edition Identification

Random House first published Ragtime in New York in 1975. The 276-page first editions are bound in brown cloth. First edition dust jackets state the original price of 8.95. From the first printing, 150 copies were specially bound as rare Presentation Copies, which are numbered and signed by the author. Presentation Copies have sold for up to $400.

Details

  • Title Ragtime
  • Author E. L. Doctorow
  • Binding unknown
  • Edition 17th Printing
  • Publisher Bantam Books, LONDON
  • Date July 1980
  • ISBN 9780553146431
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Ragtime

by E. L. Doctorow

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780553146431
ISBN 10
0553146432
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Reno, Nevada, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$8.45
FREE shipping to USA

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Description:
Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Item Price
NZ$8.45
FREE shipping to USA
Ragtime

Ragtime

by Doctorow, E. L.

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780553146431
ISBN 10
0553146432
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$10.12
FREE shipping to USA

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Description:
Bantam Books, 1980. Mass Market Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
NZ$10.12
FREE shipping to USA
No image available

Ragtime

by Doctorow, MR E L

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - VERY Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780553146431
ISBN 10
0553146432
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Binghamton, New York, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$54.05
NZ$11.82 shipping to USA

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Description:
Bantam Books, 1980. Paperback. VERY Good. Prompt shipment, with tracking. we ship in CLEAN SECURE NEW boxes Classic Books & NovelsVERY Good or Better paperback
Item Price
NZ$54.05
NZ$11.82 shipping to USA
No image available

Ragtime

by Doctorow, E. L

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780553146431
ISBN 10
0553146432
Quantity Available
1
Seller
San Diego, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$170.24
NZ$9.21 shipping to USA

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Description:
Bantam Books, 1980-07-01. Mass Market Paperback. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
Item Price
NZ$170.24
NZ$9.21 shipping to USA