Oil! - Upton Sinclair

Published in 1927, this masterpiece of realist fiction portrays a gripping tale of corruption and greed alongside a son's coming-of-age story. The basis for Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 film There Will Be Blood , the saga follows the rise of an oil magnate through the eyes of his loving but increasingly pessimistic son. After writing The Jungle , a groundbreaking book that exposed harsh labor conditions, novelist Upton Sinclair was inspired by the 1920s Teapot Dome Scandal during Warren G. Harding's presidency. Sinclair delivers a scathing, satirical critique of social injustice during the early years of the California oil boom.