The Land of Orange Groves and Jails Upton Sinclair's California

Novelist and muckraker Sinclair, best known for his expos ̌The Jungle; however, he deserves equal accolades for his entertaining critiques of Southern California's oil industry, movie studios, and urban sprawl--most of which still apply today. This book spans fifty years of his funny and fiery writings, showing how his personal life inspired his political activism. When neighbors in Long Beach struck oil, he wrote about the oil industry. His father's addiction inspired an analysis of alcohol distributors. In 1934, he responded to the Great Depression by running for governor under the EPIC slogan: "End Poverty in California." The hard-fought campaign has parallels to our current political world of attack ads and allegations of voter fraud. Here also was a political figure who understood popular culture, using movies and the power of Hollywood to give voice to his ideas.--From publisher description.