The Ragtime Fool
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
The Ragtime Fool
By (Author) Larry Karp
Sourcebooks, Inc
Poisoned Pen Press
15th March 2010
United States
Classifications
General
Fiction
FIC
Physical Properties
Paperback
320
Width 140mm, Height 216mm
Description
Praise for The Ragtime Fool... "Karp handles the intricate plot well, but the best part of the book is its picture of people torn between what they want to forget and what they need to remember." -Publishers Weekly It's 1951, and ragtime is making a comeback. In Sedalia, Missouri, plans are underway for a ceremony to honor Scott Joplin. Brun Campbell, the old Ragtime Kid, learns of a journal Joplin kept and wants to show it to Sedalia's movers and shakers, hoping to persuade them to set up a ragtime museum. Unfortunately for Brun, author/historian Rudi Blesh is determined to publish the journal. But Joplin's old friend wants to suppress the material. Even worse, two Sedalia Klansmen are hot after the journal and don't care if they have to kill someone to get it. In the middle of this imbroglio is Alan Chandler, a 17-year-old pianist in love with ragtime. If Alan can stay alive, he may be able to prevent catastrophe and learn what it really means to be Black in 1950s America. Larry Karp has written long and short nonfiction, restored and collected antique music boxes, and practiced perinatal medicine. He left medical work in 1994 to write mystery novels full-time. A self-described New Yorker, Larry and his wife Myra have lived in Seattle for 33 years. www.larrykarp.com
Reviews
In The Ragtime Fool...historical and imagined characters try to resolve a half century of loose ends, but reality always intrudes when an American art form, its creators, and the public crisscross color and culture lines. These books offer stories for enjoyment; they may also cause you to read the documented histories, and then listen to the music - where more mysteries reside.
-- "David Reffkin, Director of The American Ragtime Ensemble"Karp handles the intricate plot well, but the best part of the book is its picture of people torn between what they want to forget and what they need to remember.
-- "Publishers Weekly"Karp populates his book with nearly as many historical characters as fictional ones....Ragtime remains central to the series, both in terms of its ambience and its plots, making the trilogy a must recommendation to fans of jazz and American roots music.
-- "Booklist"Larry Karp, with his novelist's eye for plot and character and his historian's respect for time and place, again applies his practiced skills as a veteran writer of mysteries. Together with his leading man The Ragtime Fool, they promise to keep you turning the pages well past midnight.
-- "Max Morath, The Ragtime Man Entertainer and spokesman for American music and history"Author Bio
Larry Karp, Casey's father, has written long and short nonfiction, restored and collected antique music boxes, and practiced perinatal medicine. He left medical work in 1994 to write mystery novels full-time. The RagTime Traveler is the fourth book of an historical-mystery series, following The Ragtime Kid, The King of Ragtime, and The Ragtime Fool. A self-described New Yorker, Larry and his wife Myra have lived in Seattle for 46 years. They have two grown children and one grandchild.
