Ragtime: A Novel by E.L. Doctorow, published in 1975, is an extraordinary tapestry that captures the spirit of America during the turn of the century. The story unfolds in 1906 at an affluent family’s home in New Rochelle, New York. A chance encounter with the famous escape artist Harry Houdini on a lazy Sunday afternoon sets the stage for a narrative where the line between fantasy and historical fact blurs. Notable figures such as Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, and Emiliano Zapata intermingle with Doctorow’s imagined family and other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler and a ragtime musician from Harlem whose pursuit of justice leads to revolutionary actions. This novel, selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time, challenges our understanding of what a novel can be.