Modern Library Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century (86)
In 10th grade, a teacher suggested that I read this book and do a report
on it. I found one sex scene so shocking that I returned the book to her
and suggested she was irresponsible for recommending it to a 14 year old.
I still wouldn't recommend it to a teen, but this is an excellent historical
novel. It depicts the lives of three families in turn-of-the-century New
York--a poor Jewish immigrant & his daughter, an upper middle class
white family and an unwed black couple--whose lives become entwined with
tragic results. Added interest is provided by guest appearances from
Harry Houdini, JP Morgan, Emma Goldman, Booker T. Washington, and other
historical figures.
(Reviewed:)
Grade: (A)
Websites:
E.L. Doctorow Links:
-ESSAY: W.G. Sebald: The modern novel's master strategist (E.L. Doctorow, March 23, 2003, LA Times)
Book-related and General Links:
-False
Documents: An E. L. Doctorow Page
-E.
L. Doctorow '48: Author and Professor (Bronx H.S. of Science)
-Mostly
Fiction: recommended books by E.L. Doctorow
-New
York State Writers Institute - E. L. Doctorow
-FEATURED
AUTHOR: E.L. Doctorow (NY Times Book Review)(reviews, etc.)
-PROFILE:
THE MYTH MAKER THE CREATIVE MIND: EL Doctorow (Bruce Weber, NY Times
Magazine)
-INTERVIEW:
The National Book Foundation presents a conversation with National
Book Award Winner E.L. Doctorow, author of World's Fair (Diane Osen,
National Book Foundation)
-ESSAY:
THE PASSION OF OUR CALLING (E. L. Doctorow, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of HARRIET BEECHER STOWE A Life. By Joan D. Hedrick (E. L. Doctorow,
NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of THE GARDEN OF EDEN By Ernest Hemingway (E. L. Doctorow, NY Times
Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING By Milan Kundera (E. L.
Doctorow, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of AN AMATEUR LABORER By Theodore Dreiser (E. L. Doctorow, NY
Times Book Review)
-ARTICLE:
E. L. Doctorow's New York; A Native of the Bronx Chronicles a Century of
the City
(BRUCE WEBER, NY Times)
-ARTICLE:
DOCTOROW REVISITS THE 'WORLD'S FAIR' OF HIS NOVEL (HERBERT MITGANG,
NY Times)
-ARTICLE:
Doctorow's People: Old Souls, New Bodies (HERBERT MITGANG, NY Times)
-ESSAY:
WRITERS AND THE NOSTALGIC FALLACY (Marilynne Robinson, NY Times
Book Review)
-ESSAY:
DOCTOROW: INVENTING MEMORY (SALLY LEVITT STEINBERG, NY Times
Book Review)
-Viet
Nam War: Doctorow, Heller and the Origins of U.S. Intervention (Daniel
Zins)
-ESSAY:
Tricksters in Doctorow and Kingston (Jonna Mackin)
-REVIEW:
Roger Sale: From Ragtime to Riches, NY Review of Books
Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
-REVIEW:
Diane Johnson: Waiting for Righty, NY Review of Books
Loon Lake by E.L. Doctorow
-REVIEW:
of BILLY BATHGATE By E. L. Doctorow (Anne Tyler, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Billy Bathgate (CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
Garry Wills: Juggler's Code, NY Review of Books
Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow
-REVIEW:
of World's Fair (David Leavitt, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of World's Fair (CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
Robert Towers: Three-Part Inventions, NY review of Books
World's Fair by E.L. Doctorow
Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Where She Was by Anderson Ferrell
-REVIEW:
of LIVES OF THE POETS Six Stories and a Novella. By E. L. Doctorow
(Benjamin DeMott, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of LIVES OF THE POETS Six Stories and a Novella. (CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT,
NY Times)
-REVIEW:
Robert Towers: Light and Lively, NY Review of Books
Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino
Lives of the Poets: A Novella
and Six Stories by E.L. Doctorow
-REVIEW:
of THE WATERWORKS By E. L. Doctorow (Simon Schama, NY Times Book
Review)
-REVIEW:
of The Waterworks (CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
Luc Sante: The Cabinet of Dr. Sartorius, NY Review of Books
The Waterworks by E.L. Doctorow
-REVIEW:
of Jack London, Hemingway and the Constitution Selected Essays, 1977-1992
By E. L. Doctorow (CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD E.L. Doctorow's The Waterworks mixes a bizarre
horror story with the sights and sounds of 19th-century Manhattan (PAUL
GRAY, TIME)
If you liked Ragtime, try:
Carr, Caleb
-The
Alienist
-The
Angel of Darkness
Chernow, Ron
-The
House of Morgan : An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
Day, Clarence
-Life with Father
Finney, Jack
-Time
and Again
Greenberg, Eric Rolfe
-The
Celebrant
Hjorstberg, William
-Nevermore
Kennedy, William
-An
Albany Trio : Three Novels from the Albany Cycle : Legs, Billy Phelan's
Greatest Game, Ironweed
Zency, Eric
-Panama
Comments:
Orrin welcomes reader comments on his reviews.
Add yours here.
you were a 14 year old boy and you didn't want to read sex scenes?
yeesh...speaks volumes, that does.
-
- Feb-03-2004, 11:28
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