In the novel, the author provides a fictional response to his real-life social and economic concerns. The novel takes us on a journey through the political machines and big business influences that pervaded urban centers in the early 20th century. The plot is set in World War I era America, during a time of anti-war sentiment and government...More
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer and political activist who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. Sinclair's work was well known and popular in the first half of the 20th century, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943.
In 1906, Sinclair acquired particular fame for his classic muck-raking novel The Jungle, which exposed labor and sanitary conditions in the U.S. meatpacking industry, causing a public uproar.
Many of his novels can be read as historical works. Writing during the Progressive Era, Sinclair describes the world of the industrialized United States from both the working man's and the industrialist's points of view. Novels such as King...More
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer and political activist who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. Sinclair's work was well known and popular in the first half of the 20th century, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943.
In 1906, Sinclair acquired particular fame for his classic muck-raking novel The Jungle, which exposed labor and sanitary conditions in the U.S. meatpacking industry, causing a public uproar.
Many of his novels can be read as historical works. Writing during the Progressive Era, Sinclair describes the world of the industrialized United States from both the working man's and the industrialist's points of view. Novels such as King Coal (1917), The Coal War (published posthumously), Oil! (1927), and The Flivver King (1937) describe the working conditions of the coal, oil, and auto industries at the time.
Sinclair was an outspoken socialist and ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a nominee from the Socialist Party. He was also the Democratic Party candidate for Governor of California during the Great Depression, running under the banner of the End Poverty in California campaign, but was defeated in the 1934 elections.
Book Summary
In the novel, the author provides a fictional response to his real-life social and economic concerns. The novel takes us on a journey through the political machines and big business influences that pervaded urban centers in the early 20th century. The plot is set in World War I era America, during a time of anti-war sentiment and government harassment of socialists and communists. The story follows the life of a young man, Peter Gudge, who becomes an undercover agent for the corrupt local government, tasked with pretending to be a socialist and reporting on the activities of the "Reds." However, Peter ends up getting pummeled by both sides before finally becoming a wellpaid hero of the Right. Sinclair ingeniously tells the story not from the Reds' point of view but through the eyes of their enemy. The novel offers a vivid look into the paranoia of the era and the brutal tactics employed in the conflict between the Reds (Socialists) and the Whites (capitalists). Sinclair sheds light on the struggle between labor and big business in America during the First World War, making 100% a brilliant novel that will take readers on a journey through the harsh realities of this time period.
Upton Sinclair
