The Jungle - Singular Textbook Series Author:Upton Sinclair “Practically alone among the American writers of his generation,” wrote Edmund Wilson, “[Sinclair] put to the American public the fundamental questions raised by capitalism in such a way that they could not escape them.” When it was first published in 1906, The Jungle exposed the inhumane conditions of Chicago̵... more »7;s stockyards and the laborer’s struggle against industry and “wage slavery.” It was an immediate bestseller and led to new regulations that forever changed workers’ rights and the meatpacking industry. A direct descendant of Dickens’s Hard Times, it remains the most influential workingman’s novel in American literature.« less
Ken M. reviewed The Jungle (Singular Textbook Series) on
The book is a stark portrayal of the realities of the immigrants who were trampled in the industrial revolution in America. It is extremely well-written and powerful -- definitely worth reading even if the subject matter is rather depressing.