Eby, Clare Virginia, ed. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. New York: Norton, 2002.

The Jungle's influence on the "real world" is extraordinary for a literary work. Sinclair's 1906 landmark novel is credited with awakening the widespread public fury that led to the rapid passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), a watershed in consumer protection and government legislation.

The Jungle has drawn comment from historians, policy makers, and literary critics. "Contexts and Backgrounds" does full justice to the disparate social, historical, political, and literary dimensions of the novel.

"Criticism" includes eight readings sure to foster classroom discussion of The Jungle as a literary text, as a historical document in its own right, as a contribution to Progressive-era muckraking, and as an important document in urban, economic, and labor history.

A Selected Bibliography is also included.