From the flap: Ragtime is set in America at the beginning of this century. Its characters: three remarkable families whose lives become entwined with people whose names are Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Theodore Dreiser, Sigmund Freud, Emiliano Zapata. It is a novel so original, so full of imagination and subtle pleasure, that to describe it further would only dilut the pur joy of reading it. Turn to the first page. Begin. You will never have read anything like Ragtime before. Nothing quite like it has ever been written before. About the author at the time of publication: E. L. Doctorow was born in New York City. His first novel, "Welcome to Hard Times", is (was) being reissued by Random House and will (was) to appear at the same time as "Ragtime". His novel, "The Book of Daniel" was nominated for a National Book Award. As of 1975 Mr. Doctorow lived near New York with his wife and three children and taught at Sarah Lawrence College
