They Call Me Carpenter - Upton Sinclair

. .

Résumé :
They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming is a novel written by Upton Sinclair in 1922 that exposed the new and upcoming culture of 1920s Southern California, namely Hollywood. Sinclair does this by using Jesus, or Carpenter as Sinclair calls him, as a literary figure. The story takes place in the fictional locale Western City. It begins with a man named Billy who is attacked by a mob outside a theater after watching a German film. Billy then stumbles into a church and is visited by Carpenter, that is Jesus, who walks out of a stained glass window. Carpenter is shocked and appalled by upper-class culture. The story then roughly follows the biblical account of the Ministry of Jesus. In the end, Carpenter decides to escape the corroded culture by jumping back into the stained glass window whence he came. (wikipedia.org)

Biographie:
Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) was a prolific American author and social reformer best known for his muckraking novel The Jungle (1906), which exposed the harsh conditions and unsanitary practices in the U.S. meatpacking industry. This groundbreaking work led to significant public outcry and contributed to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. Throughout his career, Sinclair wrote over 90 books, covering a wide range of genres including novels, plays, essays, and non-fiction works. Many of his writings addressed social issues such as labor rights, poverty, political corruption, and the need for reform. He was associated with the Progressive Movement and ran for political office several times, including a notable campaign for Governor of California in 1934 under the platform of the End Poverty in California (EPIC) movement. Sinclair's other notable works include Oil! (1927), which inspired the film There Will Be Blood (2007), and The Brass Check (1919), which critiqued the American press and led to the establishment of the first code of ethics for journalists. Upton Sinclair's commitment to social justice and reform left a lasting impact on American literature and society....