He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). Time magazine called him "a man with every gift except humor and silence."[3] In 1943, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
This volume includes The Pot Boiler (1913), On Guard: Mark Mallory's Celebration (1903),The Journal of Arthur Stirling or The Valley of the Shadow (1903), A Cadet's Honor (1903), Prince Hagen (1903), Sylvia's Marriage (1914), The Second-Story Man (1912), Samuel the Seeker (1909), A Captain of Industry (1906), The Naturewoman (1912), Love's Pilgrimage (1911), Jimmie Higgins (1919), King Midas: a Romance (1901), The Profits of Religion (1927), The Metropolis (1908), A Prisoner of Morro; Or, In the Hands of the Enemy (1898), Damaged Goods (1913), They Call Me Carpenter (1922), King Coal (1917), The Moneychangers (1908), The Book of Life (1922), 100%: The Story of a Patriot (1920), The Jungle (1906)
Sylvia's Marriage- "The importance of the theme cannot be doubted, and no one hitherto ignorant of the ravages of the evil and therefore, by implication, in need of being convinced can refuse general agreement with Mr. Sinclair upon the question as he argues it. The character that matters most is very much alive and most entertaining.".
Jimmie Higgins- "Jimmie Higgins" is the fellow who does the hard work in the job of waking up the workers. Jimmie hates war--all war--and fights against it with heart and soul. But war comes, and Jimmie is drawn into it, whether he will or no. He has many adventures--strikes, jails, munitions explosions, draft-boards, army-camps, submarines and battles. "Jimmie Higgins Goes to War" at last, and when he does he holds back the German army and wins the battle of "Chatty Terry." But then they send him into Russia to fight the Bolsheviki, and there "Jimmie Higgins Votes for Democracy."A picture of the American working-class movement during four years of world-war; all wings of the movement, all the various tendencies and clashing impulses are portrayed.
King Midas- "I find a fine current of feeling through the pages. They are touched throughout with the hues of poetry and the noblest ideals of life."--Edwin Markham. (First published under the title "Springtime and Harvest")
The Profits of Religion- A study of Supernaturalism as a Source of Income and a Shield to Privilege; the first examination in any language of institutionalized religion from the economic point of view.
The Metropolis-Deals with New York as unsparingly as "The Jungle" dealt with Chicago. To expose the vice and extravagance of the New York rich has been Mr. Sinclair's purpose in writing this story. Two brothers, one the antithesis of the other, are the mouthpieces which Mr. Sinclair uses respectively to shout forth the demagogue's selfish creed and to denounce it.
A Prisoner of Morro; Or, In the Hands of the Enemy- Written when Sinclair was just 16 years old, and published under the pseudonym "Ensign Clark Fitch, U.S.N."
King Coal-This novel is bound to make a stir. It reveals through an intensely interesting story the actual conditions of the coal camps of this country.
The Moneychangers- A continuation of "The Metropolis." In this second of a trilogy aiming at an exposé of contemporary business and social corruption of New York, Mr. Sinclair reveals the rottenness of Wall Street's high finance.
100%: The Story of a Patriot- The story of the "White Terror," and how "big business" pulled off the stunt of landing the "reds" in jail. It is the inside story of a "secret agent," and deals with half a dozen celebrated cases concerning which you have been fooled.
The Jungle- A vivid portrayal of life in the Chicago stockyards, with revelations so shocking one cannot read them without being filled with horror.
