
Ragtime
American novelist, 1931–2015. Won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1986.
Ragtime is a 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow.
In historical fiction, family saga
On 3 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- E.L. Doctorow
- First published
- 1975
- Length
- 288 pages (UK paperback)
- Genre
- Historical fiction, Political, Class and society, Family saga
Is Ragtime worth reading?
3 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library) and All-Time 100 Novels.
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998) | No. 86 | See the list |
| All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005) | Listed | See the list |
| The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 90 | See the list |
Best edition of Ragtime
The edition we link to is the Penguin Classics paperback (2006), 288 pages.
- Publisher
- Penguin Classics (paperback, 2006)
- Pages
- 288
- ISBN
- 9780141188171
How critics, prizes and readers rate Ragtime
Critics rate it most highly: it earned 29% of the points available on critics' lists, against 0% on prize lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like Ragtime
If you liked Ragtime, try The March, Billy Bathgate or The Grapes of Wrath.



