Забытые книги Эптона Синклера

The protracted trial of Sacco and Vanzetti was the most controversial political event of the 1920 s. Today, more than ninety years after their execution, the events surrounding the case of Sacco and Vanzetti are still the source of debate. Truly, it is the «case that would not die». Surprisingly, of all the books that have appeared over the years concerning the case, the most complete and convincing was first published in 1928, only a year after the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti. That book is Upton Sinclair's «Boston». In his «documentary novel» the celebrated author of «The Jungle» combined a firm grasp of the facts of the case with an engrossing fictional framework to produce a remarkably accurate and comprehensive report of the events that spanned the years 1919 to 1927 which ultimately focused the attention of the whole world on a drama played out in the drawing rooms, courts, and streets of the city of Boston. Sinclair was uncertain if a miscarriage of justice had taken place. He decided to end the novel on a note of ambiguity concerning the guilt or innocence of the Italian anarchists. Sinclair's novel, Boston, appeared in 1928. Unlike some of his earlier radical work, the novel received very good reviews. The New York Times called it a «literary achievement» and that it was «full of sharp observation and savage characterization,» demonstrating a new «craftsmanship in the technique of the novel».

Between 1917 and 1928 Sinclair published seventeen books. Six were iconoclastic, nonfiction works focusing on the continued ills of America and constituted what he called his “Dead Hand” series, the hand being capitalism, a strangling influence on one American liberty after another. «The Profits of Religion: An Essay in Economic Interpretation» castigates churches as moneymaking, politicized predators. The «Brass Check» deplores procapitalistic editorial censorship in the press. The «Goose-Step» describes the commercializing of American higher education, and «The Goslings» examines the same process affecting grade school and high school education. «Mammonart» theorizes that through the ages most artists have served their respective economic establishments. «Money Writes! A Study of American Literature» criticizes recent writers for not being politically radical. Sinclair published these books, often disfigured by socialistic propagandizing and highly personal rantings, at his own expense; some were also picked up by commercial firms. All six were influential, and The «Brass Check» became a bestseller.

Всю свою долгую человеческую и писательскую жизнь Эптон Синклер посвятил тому, чтобы помочь людям своего времени понять, что капитализм и демократия несовместимы. Он критиковал капиталистические институции, начиная от религии и заканчивая журналистикой и литературой. Борьба Синклера с представителями крупного корпоративного капитала проходила не только на страницах книг, но и в реальной жизни, когда он видел, в каких условиях живут и работают шахтеры, нефтяники, автомобилестроители, рабочие других производств. В «Автобиографии» Синклер оценивает свои книги не по их литературным достоинствам, а по той социальной роли, которую они сыграли.