Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: mental radio, southern belle, penniless rat, Radical Innocent Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A hundred years ago, 27-year-old Upton Sinclair became an overnight sensation with the publication of his novel The Jungle, an indictment of the meatpacking industry that would usher in legislation like the Pure Food and Drug Act. The social reformer went on to shock his friends by leaving the American Socialist Party and winning the 1934 Democratic nomination for governor of California, although he lost the election. And at 65, despite a string of failed novels, the resilient author won the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Dragon's Teeth, the second in an 11-book series of historical novels featuring the hero Lanny Budd. Particularly interesting are the portrayals of Sinclair's friendships with luminaries like President Theodore Roosevelt, Sinclair Lewis and Albert Einstein; his ambitious experiments in communal living; and his shattering divorce from his first wife and estrangement from his son. Also noteworthy are his unsuccessful campaign for the Nobel Prize and his problematic business dealings with Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein. Arthur (Warring with Words: Famous Literary Feuds in America) draws a well-researched, balanced and fascinating portrait of a self-centered feminist who didn't understand women, a muckraker whose naïveté left him constantly vulnerable to human treachery, and a complex, bestselling celebrity who was often dismissed as a propagandist by the literary establishment. 16 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (On sale June 6)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Upton Sinclair (1898-1968) wrote nearly 90 books, but the only title most readers can name is The Jungle. Published a century ago, this indelible expose of the grotesquely cruel and unsanitary practices of Chicago's slaughterhouses made Sinclair famous, although the budding socialist intended to evoke sympathy for exploited workers, not instigate meatpacking reform. Near misses are an ongoing theme in Arthur's enlightening, frequently stinging biography as he describes Sinclair first as a bookish boy marked by his father's alcoholism, then as a "romantic idealist" with a fierce work ethic. Arthur organizes a vast amount of information into a fast-flowing, witty, and incisive narrative as he sets the political and artistic context for each of Sinclair's bold ventures and cogently explains why so many of Sinclair's ambitious books failed: he wrote too much too quickly, overburdened fiction with propaganda, and lacked "psychological sensitivity." Tireless and mercurial, Sinclair went after the oil industry, the press, and religion; self-published books commercial houses balked at; and ran for governor of California. Arthur does right by his demanding subject, deepening our understanding of Sinclair as impassioned, "eccentric and difficult," altruistic, and, in spite of his muckraking, curiously innocent. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Random House (June 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400061512
• ISBN-13: 978-1400061518
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #427,868 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and fascinating biography of Upton Sinclair, August 11, 2006

By	B. B. WHITEHEAD "mnhtnbb" (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Upton Sinclair the author of the Jungle is well served in this fine biography, August 11, 2006

By	C. M Mills "Michael Mills" (Knoxville Tennessee) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.