Almost all British critics, and by now several thousand common readers, will have come to the conclusion that Mr Doctorow spent the years between the writing of his last and excellent novel, The Book of Daniel, and the birth of Ragtime constructing a plot. The plot was not simply that of a novel, but of a sales campaign. The plot succeeded: Doctorow's truly dedicated researches yielded a formula for success, and a style in which to clothe it most gaudily. Reflective readers will forgive me for finding Ragtime as meretricious as the bicentennial celebrations themselves….

My reasons for finding Ragtime so appalling will be known to those who have read more than one other review of it. There is the too-deft split-level plot, which manages to splatter its pages with a little nostalgia here, a little noble left-wing sentiment there, and lashings of semen wherever the reader's interest...