by Kevin Baker
Set in Coney Island and on Manhattan's Lower East Side at the turn of the century, Dreamland is a boisterous, rollicking carnival. Historical figures (Freud, Jung, Edison) mingle with imaginary characters—sideshow freaks, Tammany Hall politicos, and petty criminals with names like Gyp the Blood—in this epic recreation of an era. Romance and intrigue keep the plot moving briskly, but Baker, chief historical researcher for Harold Evans's The American Century, shows more imagination than depth. Dreamland's multiple plots and high spirits can be a little wearying, and readers with any historical knowledge at all will see the novel's surprises coming far in advance. Still, it's a welcome chance to inhabit a time that seems so much livelier and more hopeful than our own. (HarperCollins, $26)
Bottom Line: Ragtime on steroids
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