Search - The Jungle

Fast food nation....before there was fast food.
A look into the culture of early America, and potential communism. You will really feel for the families involved.
(my high school history teacher didn't believe I read the entire book. He didn't know about my biblophile tendancies!)

Oh the horror. After reading this you will defend USDA inspections with your last breath.

A must-read!

It seems that Upton Sinclair sat down to attempt writing the most depressing book of all time........he may have succeeded.

Man, socialism in the twentieth century is going to rock! That's the ultimate message of Sinclair's preachy tome, which is remembered for its nauseating depictions of the meat trade in Chicago and its influence in getting food laws enacted and trusts busted.

He had a chance to make a great vision of bleakness, and would have if he'd ended about four chapters earlier. It would have been "The Grapes of Wrath," but less subtle. In fact, you know what would make for the shortest essay ever? The title, "The Subtle Aspects of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle." This thing is not subtle. Out hero, Jurgis, goes through an increasingly unlikely set of events so that we can see every facet of the meat industry in Chicago at the turn of the century (hint: it's not pretty). You just see the inevitability of the downward journey from the very beginning, and there's just no way out of it.

Then, for the last four chapters, we get several sermons disguised as conversational dialogue among very smart and good socialists.

Still, the thing is worth a read, and I dearly thank Sinclair for writing this every time I open a can of meat.

This is probably my favorite book of all time. I found myself trapped in this tale and unable to put this book down. It is a classic in every way. You want to learn about America at the dawn of the industrial revolution, the treatment of immigrants or coporate greed? Do you want to read a book with happiness, heartbreak and great adventure? It's all right here!