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'''Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr.''' (September 20, 1878 - November 25, 1968) was an American [[Socialist]] writer and politician, best known for ''[[The Jungle]]'' (1908), a "muckraking" book about the meat packing industry. While it is the book he is remembered for today, he wrote several others that were best-sellers of their time. In total he wrote over 90 books, most quite obscure today.

'''Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr.''' (September 20, 1878 - November 25, 1968) was an American [[Socialist]] writer and politician, best known for ''[[The Jungle]]'' (1908), a [[Muckrakers|muckraking]] book about the meat packing industry. While it is the book he is remembered for today, he wrote several others that were best-sellers of their time. In total he wrote over 90 books, most quite obscure today.

 

==Early life==

==Early life==

Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on  September 20, 1878, to Priscilla Harden and Upton Beall Sinclair.  He was named after his father.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_uptonsinclair.html Upton Sinclair], [[The New York Times]]</ref>

Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on  September 20, 1878, to Priscilla Harden and Upton Beall Sinclair.  He was named after his father.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_uptonsinclair.html Upton Sinclair], [[The New York Times]]</ref>

==Author==

==Author==

===Fraud===

===Fraud===

One of his most successful was ''Boston'', a novel based upon the [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] case, in which he suggested that the convicted terrorists had been railroaded.<ref>E.g.: "[O]f the five identification witnesses upon whom the case against Sacco rested, one was a many times arrested crook, one a hysterical prostitute, one a halfwit, one a disoriented fantasist, and one a feeble victim of police pressure." Upton Sinclair, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YL2wAAAAIAAJ Boston: A Novel]'' (A. & C. Boni, 1928), p. 411</ref> But in 2005, a 1929 letter from Sinclair surfaced, in which he confessed that Fred Moore, lawyer for the two men, “told me that the men were guilty, and he told me in every detail how he had framed a set of alibis for them."<ref>Jean O. Pasco, "[http://articles.latimes.com/2005/dec/24/local/me-sinclair24 Sinclair Letter Turns Out to Be Another Expose]," ''Los Angeles Times'', December 24, 2005. Cf. "[http://web.archive.org/web/20090226152309/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/01/28/uptonsinclair-boston.html Novelist's Book about Murder Trial Called into Question]," Canadian Broadcasting Company, January 28, 2006 (Archive); cf. Doug Linder (2001), [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/s&vaccount.html The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti], Famous Trials (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law); Richard Newby, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jxPC7B6jkRQC Kill now, talk forever: debating Sacco and Vanzetti]'' (AuthorHouse, 2006) ISBN 1420843931, p. 634</ref> As he revealed in another letter, from 1927, Sinclair feared for his life if he told the truth: "My wife is absolutely certain that if I tell what I believe, I will be called a traitor to the movement and may not live to finish the book."<ref>Richard Newby, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jxPC7B6jkRQC Kill now, talk forever: debating Sacco and Vanzetti]'' (AuthorHouse, 2006) ISBN 1420843931, p. 481</ref> In the end, he decided that a lie would sell better than the truth: "It is much better copy as a naive defense of Sacco and Vanzetti because this is what all my foreign readers expect, and they are 90% of my public."<ref>Jonah Goldberg, [http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg200601061019.asp The Clay Feet of Liberal Saints], ''National Review'', January 06, 2006. Cf. Ann Coulter, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=k_3EeVj2_IUC Godless: The Church of Liberalism]'' (Random House Digital, Inc., 2007), ISBN 1400054214, p. 52</ref>

One of his most successful books was ''Boston'', a novel based upon the [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] case, in which he suggested that the convicted terrorists had been railroaded.<ref>E.g.: "[O]f the five identification witnesses upon whom the case against Sacco rested, one was a many times arrested crook, one a hysterical prostitute, one a halfwit, one a disoriented fantasist, and one a feeble victim of police pressure." Upton Sinclair, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YL2wAAAAIAAJ Boston: A Novel]'' (A. & C. Boni, 1928), p. 411</ref> But in 2005, a 1929 letter from Sinclair surfaced, in which he confessed that Fred Moore, lawyer for the two men, “told me that the men were guilty, and he told me in every detail how he had framed a set of alibis for them."<ref>Jean O. Pasco, "[http://articles.latimes.com/2005/dec/24/local/me-sinclair24 Sinclair Letter Turns Out to Be Another Expose]," ''Los Angeles Times'', December 24, 2005. Cf. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090226152309/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/01/28/uptonsinclair-boston.html Novelist's Book about Murder Trial Called into Question]," Canadian Broadcasting Company, January 28, 2006 (Archive); cf. Doug Linder (2001), [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/s&vaccount.html The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti], Famous Trials (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law); Richard Newby, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jxPC7B6jkRQC Kill now, talk forever: debating Sacco and Vanzetti]'' (AuthorHouse, 2006) ISBN 1420843931, p. 634</ref> As he revealed in another letter, from 1927, Sinclair feared for his life if he told the truth: "My wife is absolutely certain that if I tell what I believe, I will be called a traitor to the movement and may not live to finish the book."<ref>Richard Newby, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jxPC7B6jkRQC Kill now, talk forever: debating Sacco and Vanzetti]'' (AuthorHouse, 2006) ISBN 1420843931, p. 481</ref> In the end, he decided that a lie would sell better than the truth: "It is much better copy as a naive defense of Sacco and Vanzetti because this is what all my foreign readers expect, and they are 90% of my public."<ref>Jonah Goldberg, [https://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg200601061019.asp The Clay Feet of Liberal Saints], ''National Review'', January 06, 2006. Cf. Ann Coulter, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=k_3EeVj2_IUC Godless: The Church of Liberalism]'' (Random House Digital, Inc., 2007), ISBN 1400054214, p. 52</ref>

==Socialist Viewpoints==

==Socialist Viewpoints==

==Personal life==

==Personal life==

In 1909-1911, Sinclair and his wife Meta lived in the [[Single Tax Colony]] of Fairhope, Alabama from 1909 to 1910 and Arden, Delaware, to 1910-1911.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pYiXTzx-fWEC&pg=PA54 Upton Sinclair: California Socialist, Celebrity Intellectual]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=iaJZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA97 The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism]</ref>

With the success of ''The Jungle'', Sinclair used the proceeds from the book to found an utopian colony in Englewood, New Jersey.  He called it the ''Helicon Home Colony''.  It was founded in 1906, but in less than a year a massive fire burned it down under suspicious circumstances.  In 1909-1911, Sinclair and his wife Meta lived in the [[Single Tax Colony]] of Fairhope, Alabama from 1909 to 1910 and Arden, Delaware, to 1910-1911.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pYiXTzx-fWEC&pg=PA54 Upton Sinclair: California Socialist, Celebrity Intellectual]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=iaJZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA97 The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism]</ref>

==Notes==

==Notes==

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Upton}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Upton}}

[[Category:Authors]]

[[Category:American Authors]]

[[Category:Socialists]]

[[Category:Socialists]]

[[Category:California]]

[[Category:California]]