Ragtime, by EL Doctorow, was originally published in 1975 and later became a musical that premiered at the Toronto Center for the Arts in 1996. The story illustrates the travels of three families in the changing American society of the 1920s. Every family is in a different position in society. A family is rich and white and lives in the exclusive, middle-class neighborhood of New Rochelle, New York. Their lives are protected and privileged. Another family is African American. They live in Harlem, which at the time was populated only by African Americans. The main character of this family we follow, Coalhouse, is a Ragtime pianist. The next family represents the immigrants of that time. Tateh, a Jewish immigrant, arrives at Ellis Island and faces challenges to achieve the American dream. Although they dream of wealth, they begin life in America in poverty. The fictional story of Ragtime accurately describes the story. The story provides a realistic picture of what New York was like at the time, using real and fictional people and describing events in the book that mirror real life. "Based on EL Doctorow's bestseller, "Ragtime" skillfully blends historical events (immigration, the industrial revolution, the birth of the civil rights movement, women's suffrage and the invention of cinema) and historical figures (Henry Ford, Booker T. Washington, Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman, Admiral Perry) with fictional characters to depict a nation in the making at the beginning of the 20th century" (Jim Ruth). Ragtime is set in New York City, during the 1900s. This time period is referred to as the Progressive Era. This era was true to its name because many insightful people attempted to create the society of... middle of paper... all the way to Massachusetts. I was walking through the Public Library in Midtown and hit my knee on a book, looked down and picked it up. It was a corporate history of the streetcar companies. This is how the book was put together" (Behind Ragtime). Ragtime provides an accurate picture of what New York City was like at that time through the people and events of the story. "Fiction with the pointillist method: drop by drop, color by color, Doctorow constructs an incredibly glittering portrait of New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. Like many other historical novelists, he mixes real and fictional characters with (among others) Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini...", and "...JP Morgan and Emiliano Zapata (remove this part?)." (Byrd , Max)