First published 2006
Upton Sinclair wakes up in contemporary America, brought back from the dead by hopeful leftist activists chanting "Hope and Shovels Forever." The famous muckraker finds himself trapped in an endless cycle of resurrection and assassination. Each time he returns, he writes terrible political novels and preaches about the coming Socialist revolution. Each time, someone guns him down for fame or money. Once, they even harpoon him. As Sinclair grows more irrelevant with each death, his killers become celebrities while his supporters grow more desperate. The violence escalates alongside America's political hysteria. Sinclair keeps believing the revolution waits just around the corner, even as his influence shrinks and his writing gets worse. The story builds toward a chaotic confrontation that brings together all the novel's characters in explosive fashion. This darkly comic tale captures both the stubborn faith of the American Left and the brutal opportunism that destroys it.
Genres: satire, american-fiction, social-issues, activism
Vibes: dark-humorous, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: dark-comedy, fish-out-of-water, political-satire
Setting: America, United States
Period: Contemporary
304 pages · Paperback · Bloomsbury USA
Content warnings: violence