Oil! (California Fiction) - Softcover

Sinclair, Upton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520207270 ISBN 13: 9780520207271

Publisher: University of California Press, 1997

Synopsis

In Oil! Upton Sinclair fashioned a novel out of the oil scandals of the Harding administration, providing in the process a detailed picture of the development of the oil industry in Southern California. Bribery of public officials, class warfare, and international rivalry over oil production are the context for Sinclair's story of a genial independent oil developer and his son, whose sympathy with the oilfield workers and socialist organizers fuels a running debate with his father. Senators, small investors, oil magnates, a Hollywood film star, and a crusading evangelist people the pages of this lively novel.

About this title

About the Author:

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), novelist and journalist, is best known for his novel about the Chicago meatpacking industry, The Jungle. A paperback edition of his I, Candidate for Governor is available from California. Jules Tygiel is the author of The Great Los Angeles Swindle: Oil, Stocks, and Scandal during the Roaring Twenties (paperback California, 1996) and The Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy. He is Professor of History at San Francisco State University.

From AudioFile:

Author Upton Sinclair's remarkable early-twentieth-century epic tells the story of Southern California's cut-throat oil industry, and the lengths that some folks would go to enjoy success. Hard-pressed to outperform actor Daniel Day Lewis's Oscar-winning performance in the feature film adaptation, narrator Grover Gardner plays it straight in a solid and believable performance that will engage listeners with its simplicity and earnestness. Though there aren't many dramatic shifts in tone or accent, the sea of characters that floods this story is realistic from first to last. This is perhaps an even more remarkable feat considering the length of the production. Through thick and thin, Gardner never fails to deliver with passion and vigor. L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0520207270
• ISBN 13: 9780520207271
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 528