Ragtime

I didn't dislike this but didn't like it either, so can't give it more than three stars. If I hadn't been listening to it, I probably would have given up on it. It's just too snapshot-y and I didn't feel like I really knew the characters. I also didn't like that things were completely made up about real people. It was fine.

Engaging historical fiction, full of verisimilitude and intriguing detail. I loved the incorporation of the personalities of “greats” of the time, like J.P. Morgan, Houdini, and Henry Ford–even if these personalities are entirely fictitious. By the end of the book, I was so engrossed that I wasn't able to differentiate between the factual historical events and the ones that Doctorow invented. Occasionally preachy, but a bitingly sarcastic social commentary on the wealthy class of the past (and even today).