Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Historical fantasy, the old-school way. No actual magic, mind you, but E. L. Doctorow finds some of the most interesting characters of the Ragtime Era right before WWI and throws them all together in a wild extravaganza.

Add Archduke Ferdinand, Houdini, Freud, J.P. Morgan, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, and a truly fantastic but made up Coalhouse Porter (a jazz musician with a massive bone to pick throughout the tale), and the novel becomes a who's-who of famous historical personages (including Teddy Rosevelt!) popping up throughout the tale.

I rather like this invention. I'm actually more than a little curious to see where they all go off the rails in fantasy versus the real people. If I was really serious about it, I would have to read about a dozen full biographies to untangle this undeniably fun mess of a novel. :)

Well worth the read! :)

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