Upton Sinclair

Upton Beall Sinclair (September 20, 1878 - November 25, 1968) was a prolific (90 books) American author who wrote in many genres, often advocating Socialist views, and achieved considerable popularity in the first half of the twentieth century. He gained particular fame for his novel, The Jungle (1906), which dealt with conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry and caused a public uproar that ultimately led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. However the main point of the novel, The Jungle, was lost on the public. He wrote to demonstrate the inhuman conditions of the workers and the exploitation of the wage earner under capitalism. But, at least the fame and fortune he gained from publishing The Jungle enabled him to write books on almost every issue of social justice in the 20th century.

Childhood and education

The family fortunes had suffered after the Civil War, and so Upton Sinclair had an unusual upbringing that mixed wealth and poverty. His father was an alcoholic and his immediate family was poor, but he often stayed with his wealthy maternal relatives in New York, allowing him to experience two extremes of American society which later influenced his socialist views.

Related Topics:
Civil War - Alcoholic - New York - Socialist

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To pay his way through City College of New York, Sinclair wrote jokes and fiction for magazines and newspapers, as well as dime novels for the firm of Street & Smith. He also attended graduate school at Columbia.

Related Topics:
City College of New York - Dime novel - Columbia

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