Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Legal; Fiction / Urban Life; Social Science / Social Classes; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Get To The Point
While I do believe that Sinclair does a great job describing the excess of the New York socialites, I read 40% of the book and I am not sure if there was going to be an actual story. The book has aspects of a novel. There is a protagonist. He seems to have a inner struggle. However nothing seems to happen. The book is half way over and this guy has not done anything to resolve his issue. He is only exposed to more and more excess. ... Read more

Product Description
Upton Sinclair won a Pulitzer Prize for his notorious 1906 novel *The Jungle,* a fictionalized account of the barbaric conditions of the men and women who worked in Chicago's meatpacking industry. And just as the horrific circumstances he exposed in that book more than a century ago appear to be recurring in our fast-food nation, so do those he highlights in his 1908 novel, the cautionary tale The Moneychangers.First published in 1908, this is the story of a small band of Wall Street players who plot to outmaneuver their rivals via financial schemes that sound all too familiar in today's chaotic economic environment: shell companies and creative accounting lure unwitting investors to prop up secretly bankrupt corporations, prompting a stock market crash, a bank run, and a dramatic rise in unemployment.As with The Jungle, this is based on real events-the Wall Street crash of 1907-and reads as startlingly prescient today, as the very crimes Sinclair strove to highlight plague society once again.American writer UPTON BEALL SINCLAIR (1878-1968) was an active socialist and contributor to many socialist publications. His muckraking books include King Coal (1917), Oil! (1927), and Boston (1928). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Surprisingly current
While this book was written almost a century ago it is surprisingly current with the economic situation we are presently in.

Thriller / Suspense / Mystery of sorts.....
Muckraker, Upton Sinclair, tells the fictionalized story of the Wall Street panic of 1907.The panic, according to Sinclair, was orchestrated by several very powerful capitalists in order to dethrone a rival trustcompany.They did this because man's revenge over being smitten by awoman, to put the anti-trust President in his place, and greed.The ruinof the rival trust company caused a stock market crash and a bank rushwhich ultimately cost thousands their jobs and savings and put the entireworld into financial turmoil.

The story is told through the eyes of AllanMontague -- a successful lawyer living in New York.Through the course ofthe story he becomes introduced to several power players -- many of whomhave millions riding in the stock market.These big players, also usefronts and shill companies whose only purpose is to sell things -- they donot make anything.This gets the public and the government to invest intheir companies which ultimately go bankrupt.

The players in the storyaren't too terribly interested in money.They use it as points and live toout maneuver the other.Sinclair reveals the back room shanagans of thestock market and the manipulations they pulled on the market.In addition,he points out the press was unable to print the "truth" onaccount that many of the corporations owned the newspapers.

The book wasa little hard to follow despite Sinclair's lucid writing style.There weremany players in the story, many making brief and periodic appearances. Also, the economic theory behind the maneuverings could leave a reader alittle bewildered if they aren't up on the subject of trusts, stocks, highfinance and corporations.Although, I suspect that many of themanipulations the capitalists did have been corrected thanks to modernchecks and safeguards, the book does reveal the vast amount of corruptionon all levels of the American system:the government, banks, and otherbusinesses manipulating other businesses.This book was almost a thriller/ mystery and was entertaining and informative throughout. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Mystery ... Read more

Product Description
For nearly a century, the original version of Upton Sinclair's classic novel has remained almost entirely unknown. When it was published in serial form in 1905, it was a full third longer than the censored, commercial edition published in book form the following year. That expurgated commercial edition edited out much of the ethnic flavor of the original, as well as some of the goriest descriptions of the meat-packing industry and much of Sinclair's most pointed social and political commentary. The text of this new edition is as it appeared in the original uncensored edition of 1905. It contains the full 36 chapters as originally published, rather than the 31 of the expurgated edition. A new foreword describes the discovery in the 1980s of the original edition and its subsequent suppression, and a new introduction places the novel in historical context by explaining the pattern of censorship in the shorter commercial edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (61)

Great to have the original Jungle
I've read The Jungle before, but this unexpurgated edition gives an even more powerful presentation of the dehumanization of workers in early 1900s meat packing.. It also exposes the same cracks in US political and economic structures that led to the Great Depression of the 1930s and the present Great Recession. It should be required reading for high school students as they try to make sense of the world they find themselves in today.
Clarity is often a prelude to sanity, and everyone needs to understand the forces pitted against them. Adulterated poisoned food, mortgage scams, unavailable health care, fake journalism, false advertising, and political corruption are all there, in 1904.

the anti-nostalgia pill
This book is the perfect antidote to nostalgia for the "Good Old Days", portraying early 20th-century America as a hellhole of dirty food, infectious diseases, mean bosses, corrupt politics, poverty, and homelessness.Is it exaggerated? I'm sure it is (though probably less so than the suffocating cloud of nostalgia that other books and movies give us).Is it melodramatic?Heck yes.Are the last few chapters dull and propagandistic?Absolutely. Are the characters particularly memorable?Probably not.But despite its flaws, this book packs quite a punch (and its popularity suggests that readers of the time agreed!)

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class. Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books. The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions).

Extremely powerful
This novel can be divided into three parts. In the first part we are introduced to a family that has recently arrived in the US in pursuit of a better life. We read about the hardships of life and how the family fights with forces that are too great to conquer. This part of the book is extremely emotional. The reader finds himself fighting with the family, laughing when they seem to win a fight and mourning when they eventually lose it. We see Jurgis working so hard, yet losing everything. I think that this was the best part of the book.
In the second part Jurgis finally realizes that he is living in a jungle and seeing that he has nothing to fight for anymore decides to be part of the system and to try to gain as much as he can in any way possible. We see the criminal life in Chicago and how business is done.
From there we move to the next level where we see the politics of Chicago and the changes that are happening. We see thousands of families that are living as Jurgis used to live are fed up and how they demand change. Basically we see the rise of socialism.
This is an excellent book that is very well written. It delivers what it promises: a description of a jungle where only the strong survives. As I said, the best part of the book for me was when Jurgis was a family man. The other parts are great, but I think that the last part became too political. I know that this is what the author intended and I did enjoy the transition from the microscopic to the macroscopic, but I felt that the first part of the book was the most captivating. ... Read more

Product Description
The Jungle was written about the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. Although Sinclair originally intended to focus on industrial labor and working conditions, food safety became the most pressing issue. Sinclair's account of workers' falling into rendering tanks and being ground, along with animal parts, into "Durham's Pure Leaf Lard", gripped public attention. The morbidity of the working conditions, as well as the exploitation of children and women alike that Sinclair exposed showed the corruption taking place inside the meat packing factories. Foreign sales of American meat fell by one-half.Considered a classic and important example of the muckraking tradition of journalism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The Jungle- Upton Sinclair
This is the item I was looking for and reasonably priced.I like the free shipping.

Great story, strong characters and a plea for social justice.Absolutely amazing!
Published in 1906, this book is famous for exposing the unsanitary and disgusting practices of the meat processing industry in Chicago.I chose to read the original uncensored edition because I didn't want a whitewashed version.I was not disappointed.I got it all, in all its grisly details.Processed meat and sausages included diseased animal meat, rats, the filth on the floor and even the bodies of human workers who got sucked into the lard vats.Yes, these abuses were shocking and resulted in reform and new standards for the industry, but that was only one aspect of the book.

Central to the story is the plight of the workers and, indeed, that was Upton Sinclair's purpose as he went to Chicago on a stipend from a socialist newspaper to expose the exploitation of the factory workers.That is the central theme of the book and I found myself wincing throughout, not only because of the tubercular beef being sold to the public, but mostly because of the degradation of the human beings who were just cogs in the wheels of production.

The story is about a family of Lithuanian immigrants who came to America for a better life.From the very beginning, they were cheated. They were sold a substandard house and never told about the extra taxes, fees and clauses that would cause them to lose the house if they were late with their payments.They had to to walk several miles to work in the stockyards in the dead of winter with inadequate clothing.Children were forced to work too and one little boy lost some fingers from frostbite.Their wages didn't meet their needs and there were times there was no food at all.They could never afford doctors or medicine and if a member of a family was sick or injured that person lost his or her job.

I'll never forget the characters in the book.Ona and Jurgis are a young married couple who we meet at their wedding in the beginning of the book.They are young and they have hope.Jurgis is big and strong and easily gets a job.At first all seems well.But as the book progresses, we see how everyone in the family has no choice but to work.This includes the elderly father and the children.Later, when Jurgis hurts his foot in an accident, he is out of work for months and the family suffers.But even more horror is in store of the family. Mainly, we follow what happens to Jurgis as he loses his job, and circumstances spiral out of control.I felt real emotion for him and his family, amazed at out anyone could endure the hardships they had to face.Eventually the book winds up as the writer wanted it, with anger at the exploitation of the workers.

I loved this book.I read it all at once, starting it at three o'clock one afternoon and reading through most of the night until I finished it.I identified with each of the characters and was amazed at their forbearance and strength through all their adversity.Of course I had heard about these horrible conditions throughout my lifetime.But I never realized how bad they really were.This book opened my eyes.I don't know if I will ever be the same again.

I give this book my highest recommendation.It's not only a great story with great characters, it's a plea for social justice.And its impact can still be felt today.

Zero
Unless you like being depressed and miserable don't read this book. It was well written for the period and political purpose it was intended for, but I can't recommend it unless it is a mandatory reading for a class you are taking. That's all I can say about this book.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions).

Timely now
Although this book was written long ago, the message remains timely now and should be read by everyone. ... Read more

Product Description
Hal stood looking at the cheering crowd. He had time to note some of the faces upturned to him. Pitiful, toil-worn faces they were, each making its separate appeal, telling its individual story of deprivation and defeat. Once more they were transfigured, shining with that wonderful new light which he had seen for the first time the previous evening. It had been crushed for a moment, but it flamed up again; it would never die in the hearts of men--once they had learned the power it gave. Nothing Hal had yet seen moved him so much as this new birth of enthusiasm. A beautiful, a terrible thing it was! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

King Coal
I found this book to be a truly captivating representation of the hypocrisy and oppression that the early 20th century coal miners encountered. While the plot is not as notable as his earlier work, The Jungle; King Coal is laced with it's own gruesome depiction of the corruption caused by greed and apathetic treatment toward the mine workers.

Upton Sinclair devoted his life to exposing the flaws of big industry and I think everyone could benefit from reflecting on his work.

I would also recommend Germinal by naturalist, Emile Zola or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The latter book illustrates the life of a family of sharecroppers during the Dust Bowl while the former concerns the lives of workers in the French mines.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!
This book, as published by General Books, is unreadable because of the way it's copied from the original source--part of the first paragraph of the book was missing!Check their website where they ask you to please excuse any typos or extra characters.It's a joke, and a very bad one at that.Buy another edition, but don't waste your money on this one.

I ended up returning the book because of all the typos and everything else, if that tells you how bad it is...

Dad Liked It
I bought this book for my dad and he really liked it and highly reccomended it to me to borrow from him.

How He Spent His Vacation
Hal Warner is a college man who visits the coal camps of Colorado to learn what they are really like. He finds out how a traveler can be arrested and robbed of his money and watch. When he makes a friend he learns about the fear that oppresses workers in a company town. A complainer can be fired and blacklisted in the whole state. Death and crippling injuries are too common, the mine bosses ignore the state laws. Education in public schools offers a view of a wider world. Otherwise the people in these camps are like medieval serfs without their many holidays and benefits. Sinclair shows his bias against drinking, as if that was the cause of the worker's poverty instead of the result. The company preacher in the company church spoke against demon rum, but not the poverty and oppression they endured. Over-work caused "industrial drinking".

Miners were cheated on the amount of coal they produced. There was a caste system based on nationality. [Divide et impera?] The company supervisors tried to prostitute young women. Any accident is blamed on the victim. Hal gets a better job by paying off the boss. Hard physical labor dulled the mind and wearied the body. Workers were encouraged to spy on each other. An organizer for the United Mine-Workers shows up and explains why the workers need a union: to enforce the state laws that are ignored by the company bosses. In Book II Sinclair tells of the care needed to organize so the miners can get an honest weight for their coal. There had been a big strike once. The local government and state militia acted for the mine owners. Strike leaders were put in jail without being charged. Others were railroaded and left in a desert without food or water. Judges were forbidden to act! The strike was broken.

Hal learns how the votes are counted by the coal company: their man always wins! The miners decide on what to do, and how to handle the expected violence (rely on moral force). The company concocts a reason to put Hal in jail. The marshal tells Hal how the courts and jury are rigged to railroad him to prison, perfectly legal. But Hal has a surprise for the marshal. A mine explosion occurs. Sinclair describes the effects it has below and above ground. These accidents result when the company disregards the safety laws. The mine company is slow to rescue the men; there is a profit motive there (as in Cherry Illinois)! Hal is then railroaded out of town.

This fast-paced story tells about the political system that is corrupted by big corporations. Hal acts as a knight who passes many tests and difficulties to save the imperiled miners. Can people depend on the "old-school tie" to make everything right? Sinclair's writing skills have improved since "The Jungle" of 1906. This book describes life in a company town a century ago. Have things changed since? Will this past return? Sinclair is no longer totally in favor of alcohol prohibition. The examples in states showed this did not prevent the oppression that resulted in poverty.

The 'Postscript' explains this story is based on the facts observed in unorganized mining camps around the time of the great coal strike of 1913-1914. The characters are based on real persons, every incident is typical. The Colorado strike was well documented. A report by the Colorado Supreme Court told about the political repression used to control voting. [Sinclair was a jounalist who documented his findings in novels. This prevented them from being long forgotten like most of the 'muckrakers' in the early 1900s.]

Reminiscent of a teen hero pulp novel
This is not a great book.The story is simple, the characters are clichéd, and the message hits the reader with the subtlety of a caveman's club.It is reminiscent of a teen hero pulp novel; a socialist "Red Planet" perhaps.Based on that assessment this book probably deserves two stars. On the other hand, Sinclair did do an effective job of researching and documenting the labor injustices of that era.Also, his writing style is remains remarkably fluid, even if it is not a showcase for the beauty of the English language.I enjoyed this book and learned something from it, even if it is not Sinclair's highest art. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (20)

Compelling
This book was a requirement for a history class, but I ended up loving it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the human suffering involved during the upheaval of early immigration and unions.

Eye opening
This book will enlighten you to the harsh conditions that laborers in the United States worked under during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They're much worse than you think. This book will also make you communist, or socialist at the least.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions).

Great Classic!
This is just a well done story. It starts slow, a traditional Lithuanian wedding reception, then the promise of the American dream. Soon the American dream starts to unravel, we find strangers and employers all to eager to rip off the immigrants. This fictitious story hits too much historical truths and we all should know this history so that people never get taken advantage of the way these poor immigrants did. The close of the book the author seems to devote to the advancement of his political agenda, which is socialism. The story is a little dated, turn of the nineteenth century Chicago, but the underlying theme of social and political justiace still resonate strong.

fantastic
I love the condition and speed in which this classic got to me, thank you, I am reading it right now! ... Read more

Product Description
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is a vivid portrait of life and death in a turn-of-the-century American meat-packing factory. A grim indictment that led to government regulations of the food industry, The Jungle is Sinclair's extraordinary contribution to literature and social reform. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A Worthwhile Read
Let me start off by saying that I only read this book because it was referenced so many times in Fast Food Nation & Food, Inc. Coming from someone who has had minimal knowledge of Politics, this was an overall enjoyable read. I found myself at times ciphering the Political discussions that Sinclair loves to detail so immaculately. However, I was able to get through most the book without too much trouble. I found appalling the vile acts of misconduct & grotesqueness that took place in Meat Packing Houses during the early 1900's, but more so shocking was theblatant disregard for human life, as seen through the greedy eyes of the corporate executive.

Jungle is a good book.
This is a really good book about the nature of the meat packing industry during the early turn of the 1900's. This book has a good story thought can get wordy in some parts. While I'm no book reviewer it's a great book, though a bit depressing at times!

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class.Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books.The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions).

Disturbing about the meat industry practices but an important book
It took me a few tries to get through the book. Once I passed the first chapter, I became hooked to this book. Despite the age of the book, Sinclair had it right and some of it still holds true today.

That being said, this book is true and disturbing account about the meat industry practices, in the Chicago Stockyards (The new Penguin Classics version has a gruesome stockyard picture on the cover), from the conditions that the food arrives to the meat processing and makes you wonder how safe the current meat processing is today in light of the salmonella and E. Coli outbreaks happening left and right.

In this book from the way they processed the meat including the occasion nails falling into the Sausages/hotdogs was atrocious. Also, the meat was not only for US consumption but was shipped internationally as well. Because of the intense investigation done by Sinclair, the US government found the situation as described and created the Pure Drug Act which became the FDA.

In addition Sinclair touches upon economic and political aspects that affected the lives of the meat processing employees including the horrible worker conditions, worker pay and that workers did not have any rights (even saying the wrong thing can get you fired). Politically the parties, Democrats and Republicans, were just as bad since they got kickbacks from the meatpacking industry (not much has changed).

Ironically during the previous administration business friendly environment, many of the laws and authority to patrol violators has been reduced dramatically and this has resulted in people getting food borne illnesses which now needs re-regulation. ... Read more

Product Description
This novel originates from the 'Teapot Dome' oil scandal of President Warren Harding as oil barons bribe politicians.It is about greed and the oil boom of Southern California in the 1920's. It is wrapped up in evangelic crusades by shifty preachers and leftist labor activists."Oil" is a provoking novel as a man and his son plunge into the oil drilling business and all that they do and what is around them.Bunny the son becomes a 'red millionaire' and is a radical strike leader. The 2007 highly acclaimed movie "There Will Be Blood" directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and staring Daniel Day-Lewis is an adaptation of Sinclair's Oil!Read this novel and then see the movie. A Collector's EDition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

Book/film
It must be pointed out that the film-makers of There Will Be Blood were INSPIRED by the book, they didn't suggest that the film was actually BASED on the book, therefore the movie and novel are different. I haven't as yet, seen the movie , but I did enjoy the novel, and I'm glad to see it is in print.
Sinclair can tell a good story, even though he didn't write books just to tell a story.
H G Wells was another one of those "message to spread" writers, denouncing those who thought of a novel as a mere form relaxation, or just an entertainment. A lot of his "message/topical novels are now unread. (In fact, it is mostly his entertainments, like the science fiction tales, that are read/in print today).
The same may apply to Sinclair, but even despite of a tendency to "lecture" he can still tell a good story, while concurrently giving the capitalists a bashing,(one of his favorite themes).

Jeez...
Although I, like numerous others, started reading this because of "There Will Be Blood" (which I found disturbingly fascinating), I can't say I enjoyed this book at all.I'll just reiterate that it is NOTHING like the movie.

Before I got Kindle for iPod, I ordered this in paperback, which I never received OR was reimbursed for, so I read "King Coal" by the same author instead.It was a real slog and was so predictable and overwrought that I didn't even bother reading the last chapter or so.It's very rare that I've not finished a book after hours and hours of reading, but it was just too much work and not nearly enough intellectual stimulation.

I found "Oil!" to be cut from the same cloth once I got past the first few chapters.If you want to be beaten over the head with the evils (perceived or genuine) of Capitalism, be my guest.I haven't finished the last chapter or two of this book yet either for the same reasons as stated above although I have done my best to persevere.The fact that I got it last November does not bode well for reaching the end.

Although I normally like stories set in this era (circa 1900-1920), I find this book odious mostly because it deals with serious issues in such flippant ways by many of the characters in such an inconsistent way.I suspect that the body of this author's work in general is an absolute chore to read.On the other hand, however, many of the author's insights on the oil business itself are frightenly accurate.For that I give Mr. Sinclair kudos.

By about the middle of the book, our idealistic "hero" (who goes by the nickname "Bunny" - which is just irritating), can't seem to make up his mind about nearly anything - especially the people he chooses to associate with for vastly different and mostly selfish reasons - or to follow any convictions he may espouse or propose to espouse.He hates the corporations and encourages the workers' movements (in complete opposition to how he himself became so wealthy and privileged), but can't seem to pry himself away from either of these factions long enough to give himself any true respectability or certainty in whichever forum.

It's a preachy trudge by an author that can't seem to do much else in my (admittedly limited) experience.His writing is repetitive, politically wishy-washy on most points in regards to his protagonist and just generally becomes really boring.

Stick with the movie.

Fun Topic with Several Flawed Concepts
This book concentrating on events of the last century's turn reads more like Sinclair Lewis than Upton Sinclair. Sinclair Lewis is a master of Americana schmaltz -- Upton Sinclair is not.His great strength is descriptive literature about man's abuse to other men for capitalistic gain.

Upton Sinclair is the great scrivener of and for the working man, whose triumphant The Jungle amazingly delivers the reader to the turmoil, pain and anxiety of the Polish immigrant laborers at the Chicago stockyards.The description of the workplace is amazing - so much so that the meat packing stench of the carrion and charnel houses seem to pervade from the pages. That book is a masterpiece.This book is not.

This book is not the same. It is about a father and son who strike it rich as wildcatters in California and the wealth and adventure of the two as the boy grows older and father grows wealthier.But, the dialogue can bother you.As age creeps upon the two, some things evidence maturation - while others do not. For instance, after bedding a big time Hollywood actress for years, earning millions with dad in oil, watching graft and worker oppression on a daily basis, the 20-something son continually says to his father "Why . . . [do bad people do bad things to not so bad people]?"The innocence of the questions are okay from elementary school boys - not Hollywood sexing, veteran of WW I, college-educated, worldly traveled people: what the son is!

But, the mixing of fiction with real world personalities always makes evocative reading - where you must ask: who is this character in real life.And, good fiction which intertwines with real world events can be great - think The Godfather.

But, of the 90 or so books written by this author, this is not his best.Not his worst, I am sure, but not his best.But, in the end it parallels the great The Jungle when he states, ". . . an evil Power which roams the earth, crippling the bodies of men and women, and luring the nations to destruction by visions of unearned wealth, and the opportunity to enslave and exploit labor."

By the way: the cover says that this book is the source for There Will Be Blood. Not.They are very different portrayals about the same people

Somewhat puzzling
Yes, I am one of those that read the book after seeing the movie.And overall,
I didn't think it was that bad.In particular, the first quarter (on which the movie
is based) is a well-told story with memorable characters and events.The problem
with the remainder of the book is that it becomes progressively more like a
recruiting pamphlet for the Socialist Party.Sinclair makes many good points,
but does so in a heavy-handed manner.As the book progresses, the world
becomes increasingly more black and white.The second half is an unequivocal
indictment of capitalism, and near glorification of the Russian Revolution.We
all know how that turned out...

great read
This is a novel about greed says the back cover.And it was.I thoroughly enjoyed it.This made my summer 2009.The print is small and the pages are numerous so it takes some time to get through it, but Upton Sinclair is a genius and like The Jungle : The Uncensored Original Edition this book is remarkable.Glad to have read it.

Ever wondered what it was like in California right after the dawn of cars that top out at 45 mph.This is the book for you.Beautiful descriptions of the countryside.This book is about business in its virulent form. ... Read more

Product Description
Upton Sinclair's classic brings home the brutal plight of the working class, exposing the corruption and callousness of Corporate America. Just as relevant today as when it was first published. ... Read more

Product Description
Few American writers have revealed their private as well as their public selves so fully as Upton Sinclair, and virtually none over such a long lifetime (1878—1968). Sinclair’s writing, even at its most poignant or electrifying, blurred the line between politics and art–and, indeed, his life followed a similar arc. In Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair, Anthony Arthur weaves the strands of Sinclair’s contentious public career and his often-troubled private life into a compelling personal narrative.

An unassuming teetotaler with a fiery streak, called a propagandist by some, the most conservative of revolutionaries by others, Sinclair was such a driving force of history that one could easily mistake his life story for historical fiction. He counted dozens of epochal figures as friends or confidants, including Mark Twain, Jack London, Henry Ford, Thomas Mann, H. G. Wells, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Albert Camus, and Carl Jung.

Starting with The Jungle in 1906, Sinclair’s fiction and nonfiction helped to inform and mold American opinions about socialism, labor and industry, religion and philosophy, the excesses of the media, American political isolation and pacifism, civil liberties, and mental and physical health.

In his later years, Sinclair twice reinvented himself, first as the Democratic candidate for governor of California in 1934, and later, in his sixties and seventies, as a historical novelist. In 1943 he won a Pulitzer Prize for Dragon’s Teeth, one of eleven novels featuring super-spy Lanny Budd.

Outside the literary realm, the ever-restless Sinclair was seemingly everywhere: forming Utopian artists’ colonies, funding and producing Sergei Eisenstein’s film documentaries, and waging consciousness-raising political campaigns. Even when he wasn’t involved in progressive causes or counterculture movements, his name often was invoked by them–an arrangement that frequently embroiled Sinclair in controversy.

Sinclair’s passion and optimistic zeal inspired America, but privately he could be a frustrated, petty man who connected better with his readers than with members of his own family. His life with his first wife, Meta, his son David, and various friends and professional acquaintances was a web of conflict and strain. Personally and professionally ambitious, Sinclair engaged in financial speculation, although his wealth-generating schemes often benefited his pet causes–and he lobbied as tirelessly for professional recognition and awards as he did for government reform. As the tenor of his work would suggest, Sinclair was supremely human.

In Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair, Anthony Arthur offers an engrossing and enlightening account of Sinclair’s life and the country he helped to transform. Taking readers from the Reconstruction South to the rise of American power to the pinnacle of Hollywood culture to the Civil Rights era, this is historical biography at its entertaining and thought-provoking finest.

Praise
"Lively, unsparing look at the turn-of-the-century muckraker, social critic and novelist who changed the way America did business....Arthur organizes his biography into chapters reflecting Sinclair's various crusading "selves"—e.g., The Warrior, The Pilgrim of Love, etc.—and uses a deft, light touch...An immensely readable biography."– Kirkus Reviews

“..excellent new biography.”– USA Today
 
“…a model of good biography.” –Los Angeles Magazine
 
“Absorbing.” –The Wall Street Journal

"intimate and intellectually astute."- The New Yorker
“enlightening, frequently stinging biography . . . Arthur organizes a vast amount of information into a fast-flowing, witty, and incisive narrative.” - Booklist [starred review]
“a well-researched, balanced and fascinating portrait.” - Publishers Weekly
"Neither hagiographic nor condescending, Arthur is an exemplary biographer, interested in human beings for their own sake, in all their unvarnished oddity." - The Nation

“Few authors have led as full and fascinating a career, and rare is the biographer capable of packing the fascinating fullness as compactly– and apparently completely – as Arthur has done.” – Chicago Sun Times
 
“…an engrossing and enlightening account of Sinclair's life and the country he helped to transform. . . historical biography at its entertaining and thought-provoking finest.” – Forbes Book Club
 
“The chapters in Radical Innocent that describe the research and writing of The Jungle – the most famous and still the most powerful of all the muckraking novels – are thrilling. . . .Arthur captures nicely Sinclair's almost absurd innocence, his boundless enthusiasm as he met journalists, welfare workers, labor organizers and the men and women who worked in the slaughterhouses." – Los Angeles Times
 
“…an outstanding biography. I recommend it without reservation.” – David M. Kinchen, Huntington News Network Book Critic:
 
“…a bracing biography.” – Boston Globe

“…admirable . . .compelling look at an intellectual life lived to maximum effect.”– Philadelphia Inquirer:

“engaging and perceptive . . . sensitive, engrossing, and even amusing exploration of Sinclair's complex private life.” - Christian Science Monitor
“graceful new biography.”- Columbia Journalism Review
It is to Arthur's credit that he can make Sinclair not only interesting yet likeable . . . Radical Innocent is not only refreshing, it's a shock to read: a biography of a survivor. . . The author has done a Herculean job of sifting through what must, literarily, have been tons of material to produce a thoroughly readable book about a complex man.- Toronto Star
“Radical Innocent is a wonderful gift . . . a vital biography of an American treasure, and Arthur proves himself as Sinclair’s vital biographer.” - American Way [American Airlines Magazine]
"Few authors have led as full and fascinating a career, and rare is the biographer capable of packing the fascinating fullness as compactly - and apparently completely - as Arthur has done."-Denver Post

"The book provides an interesting narrative on an extraordinary American life. It not only offers specific details rendered from meticulous research, but also a historical context that makes it easier to understand the circumstances of the time period in which this "most conservative of revolutionaries" worked."-The Post and Courier ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Upton Sinclair the author of the Jungle is well served in this fine biography
Dr. Anthony Arthur has written a superb biography of Upton
Sinclair (1878-1968) whose long, colorful and controversial career in writing novels and in California politics takes the
reader through the twentieth century.
Sinclair was born to a fading southern family with aristocratic pretensions in Baltimore. His father died a drunk;
he was not close to his mother. Sinclair grew up in New York
graduating from CCNY and attending the Columbia Law School. As
an only child he was coddled at home. Sinclair was an eccentric
who always had self confidence in his amazing intellectual gifts.
Sinclair married Meta Fuller in 1900 with the union producing a son David (who later became a scientist) They lived in tents in Princeton where Sinclair labored on his novels and articles.
The couple divorced after they both had several affairs. The
lifestyle of the Sinclairs was bohemian with the young family living in communal situations as Helicote in New Jersey
and others.
Sinclair would wed two more times in his long life. His reputation is solidly based on his expose of the meat industry in 1906's "The Jungle" and the Lanny Budd novels beginning with
"World's End". Sinclair won a Pulitzer Prize. He was a friend of
such luminaries as Albert Einstein; Jack London; HG Welles and
George Bernard Shaw. He dabbled in film work getting to know Chalrie Chaplin and many other directors and actors.
Sinclair was arrested several times for marching in union
protests. He was high strung and a man who valued his privacy.
He wrote several novels in his career but is little known by
the general public in the twenty- first century. He is often
confused with Sinclair Lewis.
Sinclair was the Democratic candidate for governor in California in 1934 promoting his End Poverty in California
agenda (EPIC). He was defeated by big business and the moguls of
Hollywood.
Upton Sinclair was an avid tennis player who enjoyed the outdoor life. He was tough, eccentric and blessed with a genius
for putting words on paper which the general public could comprehend.
This is a worthy biography for persons interested in American literature an history.

Well written and fascinating biography of Upton Sinclair
I was not familiar with the works of Upton Sinclair, but drawn to this book via a review in the New York Times.Sinclair was definitely a man out of sync with his times, as he would be if he were living now.I did not know that after many years as a socialist, he switched to the Democratic Party to run for Governor in California in 1934. He was involved in all types of progressive causes concerning labor/industry, the media, civil liberties, and health care. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his historical novel, Dragon's Teeth, which is a fictional account of the beginning of Adolph Hitler's Third Reich.I've tracked down a copy of that (now out of print) and am reading it due to the parallel with our time and the rise of what some are calling American fascism. (There, I've shown my hand).Nevertheless,
this biography is very well written and compelling.I took it with me on a beach vacation and had no problem finishing it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Tireless Crusader for "Social Justice"
After reading The Jungle I was curious to read Upton Sinclair's account of his life, and this didn't disappoint. It's quite likely he made a big impact in various ways at various times in his life. Some of it's a bit gloomy, for instance he states that when a socialist colleague of his together with a newspaper reporter visited and worked in the Chicago stockyards a year after The Jungle was published they discovered that conditions were exactly as bad as ever, but that the meat was now "guaranteed pure by the new government inspection service." The follow-up report was not published by that newspaper and Mr Sinclair notes that American newspapers have always sided with the privileged and powerful. He also mentions how in the course of his research he learned about horrific conditions in other industries like the mining, steel and railroad industries, in which children were employed and sometimes died, and of how he was thrown into jail for crimes such as reading a few lines of the US Constitution to some striking workers and for conducting a peaceful protest outside the Rockefeller building after some family members of striking miners had been killed in an arson attack. It certainly seems apparent from this book that people had less rights in the early 20th century than they do now and no doubt Upton Sinclair played his part in extending people's rights not just in the US, but in all countries where his books were published. ... Read more

Product Description
The Flivver King stands among the finest of modern American historical novels. It is history as it ought to be written - from the bottom up and the top down, with monumental sensitivity to the compromise and conflict between the two extremes. Its two stories - those of Henry Ford and Ford-worker Abner Shutt, unfold side by side, indeed dialectically. They are, in the end, one story: the saga of class and culture in 'Ford-America'. Workers and bosses, flappers and Klansmen, war and depression, Prohibition outlaws and high-society parties, unions and anti-union gun thugs - few aspects of American life in the first four decades of the last century are missing from this small masterpiece. The Flivver King sustains the same sure grasp of working class life which characterized Sinclair's earlier classic, The Jungle, but much less sentimentally and with a steadier focus on how alienated work breeds not only degradation but also resistance and revolt. Originally written in 1937 to aid the United Automobile Workers' organizing drive, The Flivver King answers the question "Why do we need a union?" with quiet eloquence. Kerr have reissued it as a great American novel and an important historical document, but most of all because that question has never gone away and is now more vital than ever. With an introduction from Steve Meyer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Upton Sinclair, a precursor, almost a visionary
Upton Sinclair was a precursor in his novels 'Oil' and 'The Jungle'. He was also a very good analyst about the way politicians andbanks acted during the 1929 Depression. In `Theflivver king, a story of Ford-America', written in 1937, he writes :

"The first panic lasted several days; then it passed, and therewas a lull, full on anxiety. President Hoover called a council of business leaders to discuss what was to be done, and these big medicine men assembled, and agreed that the country musthave confidence, and they told the country to have it (...) Theonly thing he could think of (the US President, Herbert Hoover) was to have Congress vote hugesums to his friends and beneficiaries, the great banks andcorporations ( ...) The theory was that this money would seep down to the consumers and promote trade. But what happened was that the money stayed right in thebanks where he put It ; they couldn't lend it unless they could see a chance of profit, and how could a business man promise a profit when he couldn't find anybody who had money to spend? It was the end of an era".

Does it sound familiar? Upton Sinclair explains how governments and bankers addressed the economical crisis. His story is only too familiar and somehow disturbing : they proposed more or less the same remedies, and made more or less thesame promises than today, eighty years later. Are they smarter now? Or we will have more of the sameineffective medicine?

Otherwise, thebook is written in a clear and engaging way, easy to read, because it was a booklet aimed primary, to a special public, the Union workers.

Little-Known Facts about Henry Ford
My son urged me to read this book.I thought it would be dull, but was amazed to find that it is very readable.I was fascinated by the story of the early beginnings of the Ford Motor Company, and shocked to learn of Ford's anti-Semitic views and the brutality to which his company descended to fight the labor unions.It IS true that you will definitely realize anew why unions are needed when you read about some of the conditions that the employees had to endure, i.e. the 'speed-up,' the refusal of Ford to aid laid-off workers during the Depression, etc.Well worth reading!

a great tale of American history
Written in the same style as "The Jungle." It's historical fiction and relates the struggle of a typical American family (the Shutts) while working in the automobile industry, specifically for Henry Ford. The only difference is that there is a lot less dramatization. One really felt terrible for Jurgis in "The Jungle." Things just got worse and worse for him. The Shutts are a middle-class, white, Protestant family living in Michigan, and Sinclair shows just how much they depended on Ford and his automobile for their livelihood. One cannot sympathize with Abner Shutt nearly as much as one could sympathize with Jurgis. Even though Shutt loses his job a few times, he is stubborn and close-minded, convinced that America's youth and businesses are falling prey to the influence of Jews and Communists. Three of his four children develop into completely different people from their father. One is a bootlegger and another is a college-educated union organizer.

There is a wonderful sequence at the end of the book juxtaposing Ford at a dinner party and a pro-union speech given by the youngest Shutt. I found this the most exciting moment of the story. Even though Sinclair's Socialist ideas are evident in this story, they are not nearly as prominent as in "The Jungle." The ending is also a lot less optimistic.

At first, Sinclair portrays Ford as a really nice guy. He sailed for peace and invited 48 American governors to join him. After WWI that all changes. He starts printing anti-Semitist propaganda in his own paper and spying on his workers. I was never told this stuff about Ford in high school. I recommend this book if you liked the Jungle and if you like knowing the truth about the supposed great men of American history.

Upton Sinclair: upinnmichigan.org review
Upton Sinclair, The Flivver King

reviewed by Jacob Powers

Henry Ford. That national icon that we all learned at a young age is credited for making the automobile an accessible necessity to the American lifestyle. Because of his automobile metropolis, people from all over the world migrated to Detroit to be given the opportunity to work a five-dollar-a-day job on his assembly lines. Yes, Henry Ford is usually seen as the epitome man, successfully bronzing himself in Michigan history (to further prove this point, The Ford Museum recently changed its slogan to "America's Greatest History Attraction"). All in all, the Ford American icon makes him look like one hell of a guy. But, of course, there's more to the story than the simple assumption that Ford was a flawless man; after all, even icons have their faults.

That is why there is The Flivver King: A Story of Ford-America by the renowned author Upton Sinclair. Sinclair, best known for his novel The Jungle, uses true documented history of Ford's rise-from the early years as a man simply trying to build a working automobile all the way to the industrial giant that he became. In the process, the author does not forget about the men behind the scenes of the Ford Empire. By creating a fictional character named Abner Shutt, whose life continuously crosses paths with Ford, Sinclair presents a straightforward story of those who are often overshadowed by Ford's fame and success as an American icon, presenting a socialist perspective-yet a very easy read-of a history that is often one-sided.

Because of his attempts to capture history from multiple perspectives, Sinclair does not solely pinpoint Ford's strengths and successes. Instead, the author refuses to idolize Ford into a cultural celebrity, showing that even those who help mold society have their faults. In fact, the book itself could be split into two sections regarding Ford's image. The first focuses on how Ford's initial ideas on the auto industry were a blessing for those fortunate enough to work for him. After all, Ford was a revolutionary when it came to creating successful jobs for the average man, and Sinclair continuously emphasizes that actions such as these were the start to a wonderful life for the American citizen.

Yet nothing lasts forever, and with the second part, Sinclair holds back no punches or cynicism to Ford's follies. He centers on the downfall and visible cracks of the Ford Empire for the blue-collar worker-i.e., the abolishing of the five-dollar-a-day plan, the decentralization of Ford's plants, the wage cuts, the forced overtime, the layoffs-again represented through Abner Shutt's life. Sinclair further focuses on the blue-collar workers revolts through the struggling attempts to forming unions. Not to forget Ford himself, the author also exposes the industrial king's bloody retaliation on the linemen who were against him. History, again, is represented through both sides.

For those interested in Ford but tired of the endless amounts of biographies on the man who changed America, Sinclair's The Flivver King is the book to read. Although at times it may be a little overbearing on Ford's follies, the book does a great job at representing history in multiple perspectives. Not only does he focus on the figureheads who inspired and changed the American culture, but the author does not forget the little guys-the men who struggled with and against the Ford Empire.

___

Jacob Powers is a senior at Grand Valley State University, graduating in the winter of 2006 with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in English. After graduating, he plans to take a year off and then apply to graduate programs.

The Other Story about Ford...
Sinclair writes an extremely interesting historical novel about the start of the Ford Automobile Company.The story is told from the perspective of Abner Shutt, one of Ford's first employees.Abner lives in the times where Henry Ford began his auto design humbly in the early 1900's till the mid 30's when Ford was known as the richest man in the world.

The story's focus, however, is on the treatment of the workers.When Ford started his factory, he cared a great deal about his employees, but as time went on he became obsessed with speeding up the manufacturing process and increasing his profits.By streamlining the process and making people work harder, his profits grew while his workers received the same pay.When theworkers tried to form unions Ford's "hidden spies" crushed any attempt of congregation, even resorting to violence.

This book was like reading a detailed piece of history.Ford's anti-Semitic feelings are revealed through his little-known Dearborn Chronicle Magazine and how the Klan was active in the Detroit area.Also, Ford company initiatives are accounted for as well (such as moral families received a substantial bonus - if they allowed themselves to be investigated.)The historical scope of the novel is fascinating and I found it compelling,rich, and hard to put down.It is similar to the Sinclair's Jungle (an account on the conditions of the meat packing plants).The book was instrumental in the formation of the United Auto Worker's Union. ... Read more

Product Description
ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

Upton Sinclair's unflinching chronicle of crushing poverty and oppression set in Chicago in the early 1900s.

EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

A perfect book for Labor Day
Upton Sinclair had hoped to accomplish much with this novel. He hoped that Americans might understand how badly treated the American worker was.
What they understood was that the meat packing industry was selling potentially deadly meat to American consumers. Sinclair's accounts of the filth, the rats and the deception regarding meat packing are powerful. Theidea that any piece of meat can be made to look fresh and appealing no matter how rotten and decayed it might be is an unsettling one.
What Sinclair hoped to stir up was outrage that the workers were no better treated than the meat.The story centers around Jurgis, a Lithuanian who moves with his father, his fiancee and several members of his extended family to America.
The family is preyed upon by everyone. They are sold a "new" house only tolearn that the house is far from new and shoddily made The agent who sells them the house does not explain interest, insurance or sewer costs and so the family lives from month to month worried that they cannot make payments
Working and living conditions keep members ill or injured most of the time. Jugis' wife ends up sleeping with her boss in order to retain her job and Jurgis ends up in jail when he confronts the man. He does not fare well with the bosses or the unions. Jurgis lives on the street man times

But Jurgis discovers socialism and ends up with some sense of hope.Sinclair does a good job of describing socialism and the novel provides a solid context for its appeal

The surprise of all this is that how much of it does not seem dated and it can still pack a punch Some years ago I got into a discussion with a man who told me his daughter had been assigned this book for a history class I proceeded to give a brief lecture on muckraking.
"So you think she should read the book, do you?"
"Yes." I said.
It turns out that this gentleman had sent a letter to his daughter's school forbidding her to read it. He didn't like the graphic detail and its portrayal of prostitution as a career alternative for impoverished women offended him
"My daughter shouldn't know about this stuff."
It's indeed unfortunate that the book is stillso relevant decades after it was written.

From one socialist migrant to a sympathetic other
I'm not a literature major nor am I coinsurer of early century American novels. Rather, I was compelled to read The Jungle for four reasons: 1) to read about part of Chicagoan history I've never read about, 2) to gain an understanding of immigrants' struggles in a foreign land, 3) to see how Sinclair weaves in Socialism and 4) to pessimistically concede that capitalistic greed has not changed in 110 years.

Being from a small Illinois town near Chicago, I never fully understood what place the Packers held in the history of Chicago. Through the eyes of Sinclair, I witnessed and understood the social corruption of everything from voting to saloon keeping to labor unions to sweeping up the rotting entrails only to place them back into the sausage hopper. Sinclair makes the history of this social decay believable through the trials and tribulations of an immigrant, who experiences perpetual sorrow.

Being a migrant worker myself, seeking an a better life outside of America (sort of the opposite of Jurgis's migration) I sympathize with the harrowing details of confronting life in a different country when everyone is out to steal your dollar. Jurgis's ignorance and naivety was similar to mine when I entered the country... trusting that everyone is altruistic and looking out for you only to be smote once and again until his social skin becomes course with learned calluses.

This tough social skin leads him eventually to the arms of Socialism, a hypothetical answer to all the problems he has confronted during his time in Chicago. I understand the lead-up to this inevitable conclusion for poor Jurgis, but Sinclair's prose is flawed when he abruptly shifts the paragraphs of Jurgis's sorrow to a manifesto for the Socialists party. Socialism wasn't woven into the story at all (except for means to an end), merely thickly slapped on at the very end. Jurgis's experiences in Chicago streets, in the packinghouse, in low income housing, with managers, with lawyers, with thieves and with the demons he faces.

Flash-forward 110 year later and I ask myself what has changed: immigrants are still targeted and swindled, major companies are still persuading politicians and voters, loan sharks are still circling in the waters and we still don't know what's in a hot dog let alone what's in a `potted ham.' From what I've read, Chicago is still just as politically dirty and a little bit too close to Washington lawmakers.

Reading the above, it's no surprise that I simply relished in the tale of Jurgis and how he confronts each and every setback with a unique determination. It's also no shock that I didn't like the Socialism flag-waving manifesto at the end as I mentioned previously, which may be surprising to some because I'm a registered Social Democrat.

Amazingly Blunt
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, is a dreary and stark look into the lives of Lithuanian immigrants who have transplanted themselves in the packing district of Chicago in the early 1900's.It is a blunt description of Jurgis, Ona, and their families as they attempt to survive amid the harsh facts of starvation and cruelties afflicted on them.

This novel would have us believe that no one could be trusted and all immigrant lives should be devoid of hope in this 1906 US metropolis.Calamity upon calamity is thrust upon Jurgis; the reader sees him start as a naive, but hard working and strong man, only to become a man bent under the burden of sorrow while he turns to crime to live.

This novel is very descriptive and detailed regarding the harsh living and working conditions in Packingtown.The reader truly sees the plight of Jurgis and his family and might consider shunning meat for a while.It seems, however, that this tale that is devoid of all hope save Socialism is a bit biased towards only one solution to America's problems.It's interesting to read this 100 year old book during economic hardships and reflect on where we've been as a country and where we are going.Socialism was not chosen as the answer, but has capitalism worked?I think Sinclair's ideology is a bit naive like Jurgis's view of the American dream, but this novel is a fascinating and surprisingly clear and does not hold back any punches. The descriptions of prostitution, canning of spoiled meat for distribution, and the real bosses behind Chicago are atypical for this period of novel and a welcome look into the seedier side of early America.

Hello This is my first review
As you can probably tell from the title of my review THIS IS MY FIRST REVIEW.So I thought why not start off reviewing books with one of my absolute favorites.The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is actually one of the very few books I've read that has managed to blend action, history, and a meaningful conveyance of the human condition.
This book blew away my expectations.Honestly the first chapter was kinda of boring *(But this might be to me having ADHD and not be able to get focused until the action kicked in, which it immediately did), but it stuck through the first 20 or so pages and the book provided great dividends for me.This book was very, very clear in depicting what a supposed immgrant had to deal with and the author did this so perfectly.HEY i'm running out of things to say *(I don't see how people can write a 3 page summary of a novel-my goal initially-) so instead of wasting your time I'll end with one last sentence.I don't see how an author could write such a great book if all he was trying to do was be a catalyst for change in the meatpacking industry through social reform *(which he accomplished).

Ok so i'm done and if you see anything wrong with my first review then let me know.
PS once you are done reading this the book I chose to read after was The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.
Have a good day everybody :)

A social message wrapped in a pretty good story
Sinclair wrote The Jungle with a socialist agenda. Of course 1906 was before the overthrow of tsarist Russia, and Marx had not yet appeared on any t-shirts, so socialism meant something a bit different at the time than it does now. It's no fault of his that some of the grand ideas seem quaint, or at least incomplete. A century of history has taken some of the shine off of the philosophical speeches that appear in the book. The story of Jurgis Rudkus and his family, however, is timeless.

These Lithuania immigrants find their way to turn-of-the-century Chicago only to learn that the land of promise is a lot less promising than they had hoped. They find themselves exploited at every turn by a system they do not understand. The tragedies come at a steady rate for Jurgis. Slowly his dreams dissipate and his will erodes. By the end, his small triumphs seem great because they are, well, better than nothing. Sinclair managed to make the characters believable and well-rounded. This keeps them from being lost in the wash when he begins to rhapsodize on the pitfalls of the Industrial Revolution.

In The Jungle Sinclair famously exposes the meat-packing industry in the first half of the book, but less famously, he also examines the ideas of worker safety and the abuses management can inflict on a workforce that is too abundant within a capitalist system. The plot and characters convey Sinclair's message better than some of the more explicit text that pops up throughout.

If you like to read uplifting, feel-good stuff, this probably isn't it. ... Read more

Product Description
Upton Sinclair came to California after the success of his ground-breaking exposure of the slaughterhouse industry in his 1906 novel The Jungle.During the next fifty years,he served as a board member for the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote countless novels, campaigned for food reform, railed against fascism, and was resoundly criticized by the Los Angeles Times. One of his most famous writings was the slogan for his memorable campaign for governor: "End Poverty in California."Naturally, Sinclair turned hiscampaign trail experiences into yet another book.

In The Land of Orange Groves and Jails, Lauren Coodley draws on a variety of Sinclair ‘s writings to show his impressions of California, his political awakening, and the development of popular culture. His interest in the dilemma of the worker and the American with a social conscience is evident in the title piece and throughout the collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A brilliant anthology for anyone interested in a neglected but crucial figure in California history
Lauren Coodley presents an in-depth portrait of Upton Sinclair, a visionary whose political and cultural activism had a profound impact on California and whose insights are terribly relevant today.She reminds us that Upton Sinclair is not just the answer to the "Jeopardy" question "Who wrote The Jungle?" although his exposé of the Chicago meat-packing industry spurred reforms resulting in healthier food for the entire country. This Pulitzer Prize-winner wrote 100 books, was an early feminist, advocated health food and exercise before they were popular, and--vowing to end poverty in California--nearly won the 1934 gubernatorial election.

Professor Coodley has created a beautifully edited collection of Sinclair's writings.The photos alone are worth the cover price.Land of Orange Groves and Jails should be read by anyone interested in a neglected but crucial figure in California history.

Nancy Manahan, Ph.D.
Author of Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully: A Journey with Cancer and Beyond (2007).

An unusual perspective on Sinclair's politics and life
Novelist/political commentator Upton Sinclair may best be known for his flaming critiques of the Chicago meatpacking industry in "The Jungle"; but he's equally notorious in California for his harsh critiques of Southern California's culture and excesses. Land Of Orange Groves And Jails: Upton Sinclair's California assembles fifty years of these writings: plays, articles and essays demonstrate his political activism and his controversial impressions of the area. While Sinclair students will be the likely audience for this assembly, Southern California residents and students of literature alike will relish the unusual perspective on Sinclair's politics and life.
... Read more

Product Description
Upton Sinclair's most famous novel, "The Jungle" is the fictitious account of a family of Lithuanian immigrants living in Chicago and working in the Chicago's Union Stock Yards. While it is a work of fiction it brought to light the horrible working conditions of the Chicago meat-packing industry at the beginning of the 20th century. Sinclair, a noted socialist, showed the vast socio-economic divide between the haves and have-nots and the corrupt alignment of American politicians with the industrial-capitalist machine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (217)

Profoundly Depressing
In the early 1900s, it seems to outsiders that Chicago is the place to be.It is expanding like wild, and is the center of commerce and innovation.Chicago is the home of the companies producing much of the meat that is packaged and shipped around the country, and requires a huge labor force to carry out the slaughter and packing of the animals.

Jurgis, a Lithuanian peasant, has decided that his future rests in America.He buys passage to the country for himself, his fiancee Ona, and several other family members who are all certain that they will arrive in Chicago and strike it rich, finding better lives for themselves in the land of opportunity.

Once they arrive, though, the group finds that Chicago is rife with corruption.There are so many more laborers than there are jobs, so it is hard to find a place and even harder to keep it once it is found.Around every corner are those who wait to swindle the trusting immigrants.Jurgis, as the main support of the extended family, goes through a brutal process of disenchantment, as he realizes his life in Chicago is not at all the better existence that he'd expected.

There are some interesting parts to this book.I found the descriptions of the slaughterhouses both fascinating and gruesome.I feel a great deal more understanding and compassion for people trying to survive such a horrific piece of history as Jurgis and his family.Although there is so much talk today of the abuses of America's welfare system and other social programs, and talk about how unions are too powerful and demanding, this book clarifies exactly why these programs and organizations were necessary in the first place.Life was truly desperate in times before there were safety nets in place for workers.

Despite there being interesting pieces to this book, I found it for the most part to be nearly unreadable; it was so profoundly depressing.Every tiny glimmer of hope for Jurgis and his family was almost immediately squashed; they endured every possible horror imaginable, and around every turn the book was clearly stating there was simply no hope.Only at the end, when Jurgis had lost everything over and over again, did he find a purpose to life.In my opinion, it was a pretty weak one.The novel was simply painful to read, all the way through.

Tough read but definitely should be considered a classic
Firstly, I read this book on my own; meaning I was never assigned the book for a class. I had however heard of it when I studied U.S. history and found that the book sparked an investigation of the meat packing plants. I almost felt cheated when I started to read the book and realized that this was not so much about how disgusting the standards of the meat were that they were packaging as I was told by many of the readers.

Sinclair himself has been caught saying that he was trying to reach people's hearts with this book and instead he missed and hit their stomachs and it is really a shame that he did. Of the 380 some pages, about 12 of them were dedicated to how gross the meat was when they packaged it and the rest was about the suffering of a poor Lithuanian family trying to get by. My heart ached with every page I read about this family. This heartbreaking tale was far too true for many people of this time and it only makes me grateful to live in a time where working conditions have improved greatly.

The more I read, the harder is was to put down, and the more depressed I got. This book truly makes me appreciate things like workman's comp., medical leave, unions, and USDA standards. Though he didn't mean to, Sinclair has made a great impact on the rights of the working man, as well as standards of meat today. I didn't get the story I was looking for about the intimate details of rotten meats or bodily fluids making their way into to the meat, but I did find an amazing story about the immigrants who fought to stay alive in tough times of the nation.

Stark and Raw
When I was a senior and in my American History class, we were starting the unit on early 20th century America. Our history book contained a quote from Upton Sinclair (since the chapter was talking about political corruption, etc) and the teacher asked if any of us read the 'Jungle' (which was mentioned in that chapter along with muckraking)

I was the only one to raise my hand.

A couple of years before, I had read it at my leisure on the recommendation of a different teacher who knew I liked to read. The descriptions of the meat-factory and the slums is heart-rending, like others say, but it does not affect the quality of the book. If not for Mr. Sinclair's books, we might not have had as much reform to the meat system as we do now, (though today, conditions are still nasty) Plenty of other stuff is explored here - poverty, political corruption, police corruption, and the like. It's all very frank and clearly written with a lot of research from the author. It's hard to not sympathize with Jurgis even after he runs away from his family - or what's left of it, at least. Not that you can blame him, after you read about the ways he has been taken advantage of and abused, something all too common with immigrants, especially poor and uneducated ones. This is a top-notch book which is just as relevant over a century later - we still have problems with political corruption, poverty, tainted meat (read Fast Food Nation), what have you.

Survival of the most corrupt (3.5 stars)
Written in 1906, The Jungle is the very unhappy story of Jurgis, an illiterate Lithuanian immigrant, who finds work in the meat packing industry outside of Chicago.He marries his fiancée, Ona, and tries to create a decent life in America.Unfortunately, they and their extended family naïvely believe Jurgis alone will be able to support them - he is, after all, young, very strong, and entirely willing.But one by one everyone, including the children, is forced to take horrendously frightening jobs.They innocently fall prey to unscrupulous employers and lenders, becoming essentially paid slaves, wearing themselves out physically and morally.

From a literary standpoint (not that I'm an expert judge) I found the language and writing a bit flat, and it seems obvious that it was meant primarily as propaganda.However, the title is clever in that it evokes a lush, green, and paradisiacal setting (probably especially so to 1906 audiences), which is how many view the United States then and now.Instead the characters run into a reality every bit as menacing and dangerous as a real jungle would be.I also found the moral decay was portrayed in a very interesting and believable way: because of their desperate circumstances they initially accept the idea of the children working, to beating the traumatized 13 year old Stanislovas to get him to go to work on snowy days, to Ona's handling of her boss' advances.Apart from that, I think the book's merit stems mostly from the social and political implications.

I heard about this book many times in economics classes and I determined to eventually read it.But it is such an unhappy and miserable book that once I finally picked it up I regret I am unable to finish it, although I may come back to it another time (I listened to the audio book at the gym each morning and it's NOT a pleasant way to start the day, especially around the Christmas season).Nevertheless, this book was highly influential in 1906 in correcting some of the abuses in the food industry, leading to the eventual establishment of the FDA.Unfortunately, Sinclair's purpose in writing it was instead to expose the inhuman conditions the workers were subjected to, but this aspect received far less attention.And while the book misguidedly extols Socialism at the end as a panacea to the ills of Capitalism, it was a good illustration of the potential for abuse and corruption that is usually overlooked and ignored.True: it's fiction even if it is based on the reality Sinclair saw, but still a valid reminder that our capitalist system isn't perfect, and is perhaps a good counterpoint to George Orwell's 1984 (which my teenage son recently read for school and discussed with me).

So, while I didn't particularly enjoy reading it, I recognize the book's importance even though I think Socialism is a greater evil (I suspect Sinclair might have been very disturbed at the corruption later displayed by Socialist and Communist governments).The audio book version I listened to was read by Robert Morris, who does an excellent job, particularly with the Lithuanian accents.

Very useful
I needed this book for my son's history class. It was a very reasonable price and in perfect condition. Thanks! ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1921-22.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (11)

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class.Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books.The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions).

Follow the money
Anyone reading this book needs to consider that the editor, Christopher Phelps, has a lucative contract selling this edition along with Bedford/St. Martin's textbooks.Phelps shamelessly promotes this edition, claiming that it is the only legitimate edition of The Jungle.He relies on statements by Upton Sinclair, which are of dubious value, while ignoring the unbiased testimoney of Frank Doubleday in his Memoirs of a Publisher (1972).

The Jungle
This is perfect if you want to learn about the trials of immigrantfamilies, the operations of the meat-packing industry, or need an exampleof a work by a muckraker in the early 20th C. The writing is very detailedand very graphic.Don't eat meat while reading, but it's well worth it.

The Jungle
This book describes the trials and tribulations that a mislead family faced upon coming to the USA.The family of 11 (give or take) falls for all the traps that the manipulating meatpacking town laid out for them and all their fellow immigrants. Not only does this book tell in great detailthe grotesque practices that occur in the meat backing industry (some ofwhich still continue today by the way), but tugs on your heartstrings asthe innocent family falls apart... and becomes victim to Social Darwinism. Simply put- I really liked this book and feel that it is worth wilereading. ... Read more