Upton Sinclair┬а(1878-1968) was born in Baltimore. At age fifteen, he began writing a series of dime novels in order to pay for his education at the City College of New York. He was later accepted to do graduate work at Columbia, and while there he published a number of novels, including┬аThe Journal of Arthur Stirling┬а(1903) and┬аManassas┬а(1904). SinclairтАЩs breakthrough came in 1906 with the publication of┬аThe Jungle, a scathing indictment of the Chicago meat-packing industry. His later works include┬аWorldтАЩs End┬а(1940),┬аDragonтАЩs Teeth┬а(1942), which won him a Pulitzer Prize,┬аO Shepherd, Speak!┬а(1949) and┬аAnother Pamela┬а(1950).┬а
Eric Schlosser┬аis a journalist and the┬аNew York Times┬аbestselling author of┬аFast Food Nation. He began his journalism career at the┬аAtlantic Monthly.┬а
Ronald Gottesman was born in Boston and earned degrees from the University of Massachusetts and from Colgate and Indiana universities. He taught literature, film studies, and humanities courses at Northwestern, Indiana, and Rutgers universities, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Southern California, where for nine years he directed the Center for the Humanities. Founding editor of the Quarterly Review of Film Studies and Humanities in Society, Professor Gottesman was editor and author of many articles and books on literature and film, including three on Upton Sinclair.