Hardcover, 349 pages
Published Oct. 8, 1988 by St Lukes Press.
Upton Sinclair's dramatic and deeply moving story exposed the brutal conditions in the Chicago stockyards at the turn of the nineteenth century and brought into sharp moral focus the appalling odds against which immigrants and other working people struggled for their share of the American dream. Denounced by the conservative press as an un-American libel on the meatpacking industry, the book was championed by more progressive thinkers, including then President Theodore Roosevelt, and was a major catalyst to the passing of the Pure Food and Meat Inspection act, which has tremendous impact to this day.
Five stars for the first 28 chapters, and 1 star for the last 3. The last 3 chapters are such a stark contrast to the rest of the book that if I didn't know better, I would have guessed they were written by a different author. It would be like if Angela's Ashes ended with 3 chapters on why you shouldn't vaccinate your children. It's so illogical and out of place, that it risks ruining the entire book.
Depressing. Poverty vs the trusts, Chicago politics, homelessness and desperation and immigration. Depressing.
