
Ragtime
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Narrated by:
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E. L. Doctorow
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By:
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E. L. Doctorow
About this listen
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. 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.
A rich tapestry, Ragtime captures the spirit of America in a unique historic context.
Time magazine included the novel in its Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923-2005.
©1997 E. L. Doctorow (P)1997 E. L. DoctorowListeners also enjoyed...
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Read the Kindle version. Audible was awesome too.
- By Viola H. on 10-23-23
By: Sarah Woodbury
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Chancellorsville
- By: Stephen Sears
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 23 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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A former editor of American Heritage, Stephen W. Sears has collected a wealth of new sources for this definitive portrait of one of the most dramatic battles of the Civil War. Using scores of letters and diaries written by soldiers from both Union and Confederate armies, Sears’ narrative history seeks to strip away the gloss of later commentary and restore the battle of Chancellorsville to its original voices.
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It's a Wonderful Tool
- By Drake M. Davis on 08-23-14
By: Stephen Sears
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The Nazis Next Door
- How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler’s Men
- By: Eric Lichtblau
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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For the first time, once-secret government records and interviews tell the full story of the thousands of Nazis—from concentration camp guards to high-level officers in the Third Reich—who came to the United States after World War II and quietly settled into new lives. Many gained entry on their own as self-styled war “refugees.” But some had help from the U.S. government. The CIA, the FBI, and the military all put Hitler’s minions to work as spies, intelligence assets, and leading scientists and engineers, whitewashing their histories.
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This is a very good book
- By M.Biblioswine on 03-06-25
By: Eric Lichtblau
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The Heart of the Matter
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Joseph Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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A police commissioner in a British-governed, war-torn West African state, Scobie is bound by the strictest integrity and sense of duty both for his colonial responsibilities and for his wife, whom he deeply pities but no longer loves. Passed over for a promotion, he is forced to borrow money in order to send his despairing wife away on a holiday.
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Characters come to life with Greene as the author
- By John on 06-08-11
By: Graham Greene
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Appointment in Samarra
- Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
- By: John O'Hara, Charles McGrath - introduction
- Narrated by: Christian Camargo
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In December 1930, just before Christmas, the Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, social circuit is electrified with parties and dances. At the center of the social elite stand Julian and Caroline English. But in one rash moment born inside a highball glass, Julian breaks with polite society and begins a rapid descent toward self-destruction.
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Quite good, but not a classic
- By Michael on 04-25-15
By: John O'Hara, and others
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The Ghost Writer
- The Nathan Zuckerman Series, Book 1
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Ghost Writer introduces Nathan Zuckerman in the 1950s, a budding writer infatuated with the great books, discovering the contradictory claims of literature and experience while an overnight guest in the secluded New England farmhouse of his idol, E. I. Lonoff. At Lonoff's, Zuckerman meets Amy Bellette, a haunting young woman of indeterminate foreign background who turns out to be a former student of Lonoff's and who may also have been his mistress.
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Turning Sentences Around
- By Darwin8u on 01-28-17
By: Philip Roth
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The Adventures of Augie March
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 22 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Augie is a poor but exuberant boy growing up in Chicago during the Depression. While his friends all settle into chosen professions, Augie demands a special destiny. He tests out a wild succession of occupations, proudly rejecting each as too limiting - until he tangles with the glamorous perfectionist Thea.
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THAT part of the Universe visible from Chicago!
- By Darwin8u on 05-09-12
By: Saul Bellow
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A House for Mr. Biswas
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A House for Mr. Biswas, by Nobel and Booker Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul, is a powerful novel about one man's struggle for identity and belonging. Born into poverty, then trapped in the shackles of charity and gratitude, Mr. Biswas longs for a house he can call his own. He loathes his wife and her wealthy family, upon whom he is dependent. Finding himself a mere accessory on their estate, his constant rebellion is motivated by the one thing that can symbolize his independence.
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Performance makes a fatal mistake. No Trini accent
- By Christopher on 01-04-19
By: V. S. Naipaul
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Revolutionary Road
- By: Richard Yates
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Perhaps Frank and April Wheeler married too young and started a family too early. Maybe Frank's job is dull. And April never saw herself as a housewife. Yet they have always lived on the assumption that greatness is only just around the corner. But now that certainty is about to unravel. With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying not only each other, but their best selves.
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Movie vs Book
- By Sara on 01-29-14
By: Richard Yates
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The Waterworks
- A Novel
- By: E. L. Doctorow
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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One rainy morning in 1871 in lower Manhattan, Martin Pemberton, a freelance writer sees in a passing stagecoach several elderly men, one of whom he recognizes as his supposedly dead and buried father. While trying to unravel the mystery, Pemberton disappears, sending McIlvaine, his employer, the editor of an evening paper, in pursuit of the truth behind his freelancer’s fate. Layer by layer, McIlvaine reveals a modern metropolis surging with primordial urges and sins.
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History, mystery, and Drama
- By D. Witscher on 12-23-15
By: E. L. Doctorow
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The Winter of Our Discontent
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The final novel of one of America’s most beloved writers - a tale of degeneration, corruption, and spiritual crisis. A Penguin Classic In awarding John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “resumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American". Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of Steinbeck’s last novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned.
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Memorable characters, great narration, POOR AUDIO
- By Sam D. on 05-18-16
By: John Steinbeck
What listeners say about Ragtime
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- Sher from Provo
- 07-02-11
Fiction or Non-fiction?
I liked this book much better than I ever thought I would when I started it. At first, I was really confused as to whether it was fiction or non-fiction because of the style E. L. Doctorow uses in his writing. I have never read or listened to anything quite like it. But I soon realized it was a combination of fact and fiction, pulled together in a way that was compelling and interesting from the outset. I found myself looking people up on Wikipedia to see if they were real, and what their real stories were. I learned a lot. Most of the characters with names were real people. Maybe some of the nameless characters were too, but I couldn't check them out. It is a rather dark story, but it does have its light and happy moments, and has a great ending. It is a great commentary on real life.
After a fiasco with a certain author's books (I bought five but I could not stand the first one so I never read the rest of them), I decided not to read more than one book per author unless the one I read was really life-changing, but in the end, I promised myself to try another E. L. Doctorow novel in the future. I would like to hear it read by someone besides the author, though, or just physically read it. Not that E. L. was bad, but it is a rare author who can really read like a professional narrator.
I can highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, especially early 20th century, or anyone who wants a well written, interesting, but definitely different kind of book.
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27 people found this helpful
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- Dubi
- 07-20-14
Ragtime Still in Sync
As I revisit some of the landmark works from my younger days, in literature, film, music, whatever, I discover that some remain as fresh as ever, the very definition of classic, while others do not withstand the test of time -- time may have passed them by, or maybe so much time has passed me by that I am no longer able to see in them what I saw back then.
Ragtime holds its own forty years later. I read the book when it was originally published, found the movie version just OK, and stayed away from the musical version because I stay away from all musicals as much as possible. I had no particular plans to re-read it, but being immersed this past year in the world of audiobooks, I could not resist listening to it because of one reason -- E.L. Doctorow himself is the narrator.
It's just about a truism that one will always get more out of a book when an author reads his own work. But this is a step beyond. Ragtime was hailed, rightly so, for its lyrical writing style, so hearing Doctorow read it in (what I assume) is the way he wrote it, that's a real treat. Surprisingly, after quoting Scott Joplin in his epigraph, saying that ragtime is meant to be played slowly, Doctorow narrates rather quickly, but this is no complaint -- the pace is perfect.
Ragtime music is noted for is syncopated rhythm. Doctorow clearly was inspired to apply that syncopated style to what would normally be called historical fiction, although that term does not do him enough justice. He masterfully interweaves the tales of three fictional families with a stream of true historical characters from the early years of the 20th century, taking on issues of social, racial, and economic justice that still resonate today, and the rhythm is perfectly timed.
Many works of historical fiction are described using a visual metaphor -- as tapestries. Ragtime is all of that, but it also appeals your another sense, with the musical metaphor of the title.
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7 people found this helpful
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- ElaineGunter
- 02-22-22
So Interesting
I gobbled it up. My parents were born in the 20’s and I feel like I learned so much. Unique perspective. I highly recommend if you’re into historical fiction
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- Robert Stirling
- 09-16-22
A great experience for those who already love this book.
Hearing the author read this book was a joy and a revelation. Highest recommendation - not to be missed.
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- Leonora Stephens
- 01-27-23
Doctorow narrates!
Wonderful, absorbing tale, taking you back to an extraordinary time in our nation's history. While mostly engaging in the manifold layers of inequality and abuse of power, it is simultaneously a lyrical evocation of the exuberance and excitement of the time.
Doctorow is an excellent narrator, not true of all authors, and so the nuance in meaning in the scenes and characters are beautifully revealed
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- Joe Hirsch
- 12-12-24
Enjoyed book, not narration
Usually I love authors reading books, but he is not good. I hate to be that blunt. But man this book is good but I think I would have liked it more with a more effective and better performer. Great author, not performer.
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- CL
- 04-26-16
Presenting the past and pasting the present
Though Ragtime was written through the lens of social unrest in the 70s, it is nonetheless sobering to be reminded that a few decades (or even a full century) of time alone are an insufficient catalyst to provoke radical departures from the underlying patterns and antecedents of societal attitudes and behavior. The various vignettes draw attention to differences in class, racial, and gender experiences, the ways characters are aware or blind to such, and subsequently how this may affect their opinions of others outside their circle. Pay attention to any news coverage about police violence, income inequality, or other socially contentious issues and it is clear that these portraits are no less relevant 40 years later.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Christopher M.
- 11-10-17
Solid
A few people have criticised the performance of the reader and it nearly threw me off purchasing this book. I am glad I didn't. The book was amazing the story really made the era feel alive. As for the narrator - I listened at 1.45 speed and it sounded great.
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- Dana Williams
- 03-11-23
Am I missing something?
Maybe this is a book that’s meant to be read, not listened to? The author reads a bit fast, and just doesn’t have the inflection needed for different characters. I wanted to read it because I knew the musical was based on it (which I’ve never seen.) I give it 2.5 stars. It took 45% of the way through the book to get to the characters I knew about from the musical. I don’t know, I just didn’t enjoy the stories much at all and I’m confused as to why this is such a classic.
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- A. Hawley
- 03-23-23
Slightly Dated But Very Strong
This is a modern classic for a reason. Doctorow is able to weave numerous stories into one kaleidoscopic vision of these United States at a pivotal time in the country's history. While there were some descriptions of sexual content that lingered for longer than they need to, one has to remember that this is a book written by a white man in the 70s. It's about par for the course. As well, they don't fully take away from the strength of the narrative.
The weakest part of this whole enterprise is honestly Mr. Doctorow himself. For some reason, his narration reminded me of F. Murray Abraham's character from Galaxy Quest. It felt thrown off and uninspiring. This book deserved better than him reading it.
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