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** spoiler alert ** Yes, it's that book about the meat packing industry. But it's much more than that. Although this book inspired legislation to guarantee food safety, not much has changed. The meat packing industry still largely employs immigrants, who are easily exploited. The animals are still overcrowded. Management still plays workers against scabs in the event of a strike. And whether our food now is any safer is debatable.

The story follows a young Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkis, on his journey to Chicago. More importantly, it follows his spiritual journey from strong and hopeful, to broken and desperate, to perhaps a glimmer of a better future. Sinclair portrays his ebullient, can-do characters with optimism and innocence, who are quickly devoured by a ruthless system that sees them as disposable commodities. I was surprised that at the turn of the last century, Chicago already had corrupt unions; the democratic machine was taking the city for a ride; and the federal meat inspection program was a sham.

Sinclair ends the novel with a long-winded ode to socialism. His rose colored glasses on this point remind me of his protagonist's naïveté upon his arrival in America. For example, he asserts that under a socialist government, people will naturally become vegetarian, and the arts will thrive without funding. Still, even the end of the book gives one pause. It shows the author's dream of what might be while begging the question, "If not this, then what?"

The best book I've read in quite a while.