This book is called The Jungle. The author of this book is called Upton Sinclair. The Jungle was published on February 26, 1906. Upton Sinclair is an American author with nearly 100 books based on many different genres. Sinclair is a journalist, novelist and also a political activist. Sinclair is most famous for this book. The Jungle is a novel based on the disgusting conditions of the US meatpacking industry and the labor hardships that immigrant men and women face to survive on minimal pay from their employers. The Jungle is set in the early 1900s in the industrialized city of Packingtown, Chicago. This book begins with some background information about Jurgis and his extended family of twelve and how they came to America. Ironically, they come to America to leave their home country of Lithuania and live the “American Dream.” The situation takes a turn for the worse. Jurgis is a determined, hard-working man who wants to do nothing more than support his family as best he can. This book begins with a traditional Lithuanian wedding. Jurgis will get married to a woman named Ona, who is described throughout the book as a great push-over and the kind of woman who is very easy to take advantage of. Even though Jurgis and his wife Ona are on a low-budget salary, they had a very well-financed wedding, to say the least. Jurgis promises to pay it all back over time. The wedding went very well, but there were some problems with the guests. The guests at this wedding would secretly leave and not help at least pay for some of the food. Jurgis agreed to pay for the guest's food, and if that's not bad, he... that's a piece of paper... that's something. My favorite part of this whole book by far is the end. My least favorite part is the rest of the book. It's all sad until the end. I discovered that this book is not just about the meatpacking industry. There is a much deeper meaning to this. I learned that life is unfair by reading this book and that I might as well get used to it. I also learned “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is going through a difficult time in their life, because no one's life can be as bad as Jurgis's. In conclusion, this book provided a completely different outlook on life. To quote F. Scott Fitzgerald, “whenever you feel like criticizing someone, remember that all the people in this world have not had the advantages that you have had.” This book is the underlying meaning of that quote in my opinion.