Upton Sinclair Jr. (1878-1968) was an American journalist and novelist who wrote nearly one hundred books. Among his famous writings are his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle, which exposed the brutal conditions faced by immigrant workers in early twentieth-century America.

It garnered public attention, however, for portraying the brutal, unsanitary conditions of the meat packing industry in the United States. Speaking about The Jungle, Sinclair famously stated, 'I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.'