<Tr> <Th> Pages </Th> <Td> 475 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> OCLC </Th> <Td> 149214 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878--1968). Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities . His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States . However, most readers were more concerned with his exposure of health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century, greatly contributing to a public outcry which led to reforms including the Meat Inspection Act . Sinclair famously said of the public reaction, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach ." </P> <P> The book depicts working - class poverty, the lack of social supports, harsh and unpleasant living and working conditions, and a hopelessness among many workers . These elements are contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption of people in power . A review by the writer Jack London called it "the Uncle Tom's Cabin of wage slavery ." </P>

Book that led to the meat inspection act