Upton Sinclair Books In Order

Publication Order of Annapolis Books

Publication Order of Lanny Budd Books

Publication Order of West Point Books

Publication Order of Lanny Budd Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Standalone Plays

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Upton Beal Sinclair was a writer of novels of political tracts and social protests. He is widely known for his 1906 expose known as ‘The Jungle’. As an accomplished author, Sinclair has more than 100 novels in his name and several other works in other genres and fields. Sinclair’s work was extremely popular in the early 20th century. During this period he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. However, The Jungle, an expose about the conditions of the United States meat packing industry is what kept him in the limelight. The uproar that was created by his expose later on contributed to the enactment of the Food and Drugs Act and also the meat inspection Act.

In the year 1919, Upton published ‘The Brass Check’, an expose on the American Journalism which brought the issue of yellow journalism to the general public. In this expose he also highlighted the limitations that the free press faced in the United States. Four years after publishing the Brass Check, the very first code of Ethics was formulated. The Times Magazine referred to Upton Beal as a man who had every gift except silence and humor. A majority of his works can be read as historical account of events. Penning down during the progressive era, Sinclair described America from a working man’s view and also an industrialist view. Works such as King Coal, Coal War, Flivver king and Oil talked about the working conditions of the oil, coal and auto industries.

He also attacked J.P Morgan, whom many people viewed as the person who was responsible for ending the 1907 Panic. Upton accused J.P Morgan of engineering the Panic so that he could be given credit. The Flivver King talks about the rise of Henry Ford and the wage reform. King Coal attacks John D. Rockerfeller and the role he played in the Ludlow massacre of 1913. Upton Beal Sinclair was an outspoken socialist who even tried running for office on a Socialist ticket but failed. During the great depression, he was voted as the Democratic candidate for the California’s governor’s seat.

Education and Early Life

Upton was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Pricilla Harden and Beall Sinclair. Beall Sinclair was an alcoholic and liquor salesman. Pricilla on the other hand was a strict Episcopalian who disliked tea, alcohol and coffee. During his early years, Upton slept crossways on the parent’s bed or on the sofa. When his father was out of the house, he would sleep next to his mother. Despite sharing the same bed with his mother, Sinclair was still unable to get along with the mother due to her extremely strict rules. Later on Sinclair, explained to his son David, why he decided to stay away from his mother. Sinclair’s mother’s family were exceedingly rich; the father was extremely rich while the sister was married to a millionaire. Sinclair’s maternal grandparents were also extremely rich, thus Sinclair was able to live both lives.

Since his father was not successful career wise, Sinclair’s family kept on moving from one city to another. Sinclair drew close to one Reverend William Moir, who practiced sexual abstinence. While interacting with Sinclair, Reverend Moir was able to pass down his beliefs to Sinclair. Sinclair was taught how to stay away from sex. He was also expect to report to Moir, with regards to his abstinence. Sinclair loved reading from a tender age. He had managed to read all of the books that his mother had in her possession so as to gain a deeper understanding of the world.

Career

Sinclair jr. always viewed himself as a poet, thus he dedicated most of his time to writing poems. In the year 1904, Sinclair spent a total of 7 weeks while being undercover, so that he could work on his novel, which focused on the United States meat processing facilities. In 1906, Sinclair wrote his expose on the conditions in the plant and also the lives of the poor immigrants. Once the book was published, it immediately became a best seller. Using the income that was generated from the book, Sinclair was able to purchase his Helicon Home Colony.

In the year 1913, Sinclair made a trip to the coal fields of Colorado. This trips to Colorado, inspired him to right the book King Coal. Additionally, it was during this period, that he also wrote his third book, The Coal War. In the year 1914, Sinclair assisted several groups to demonstrate against Rockefeller.

Political Career

In the year 1917, Sinclair officially became a part of the Socialist party. In the 1920’s, the Sinclair family moved to Monrovia, California where he founded the American Civil Liberties Union. Sinclair decided to take a dive into politics and as a result he ran twice for Congress and failed. During the 1920’s Sinclair was an active member of radical politics. In the year 1934, Sinclair ran for California’s gubernatorial seat under a Democratic ticket. He managed to garner more than 870, 000. However, this was slightly lower when compared to his opponent’s figure. Sinclair’s plan was to eradicate poverty, however his plan eventually became a controversial issue. The conservatist s viewed Sinclair’s proposal as attempted communism.

Personal Life

In the year 1900 Sinclair went to Quebec to work on a novel. While at Quebec, Sinclair stayed at a small cabin that he had rented for some time. It was during this period that Sinclair met his wife to be, Meta Fuller. Meta Fuller was 3 years younger than Sinclair. Her dreams and aspirations were to be more than a housewife. Sinclair gave Meta instructions on what to read and also what to learn. Sinclair and Meta got married on the 18 October 1900. Their main form of birth control was abstinence. Sooner, Meta became pregnant with a child after they got married. She tried aborting it several times but failed. On the 1st of December 1901, the child was born and was named David. In the year 1911, Meta left David for a poet known as Kemp.

Sinclair got married to one Mary Craig, a woman who was from Elite Greenwood. Mary had written several articles and also a book on one Winnie Davies. Sinclair once again got married to Mary Willis.