The Cup of Fury

by Upton Sinclair

"If Only I had never touched it"

This remorseful lament is heard over and over again, as broken-hearted men and women discover themselves chained to the drinking habit.

Her are the intimate, tragic stories of richly talented people whose "moderate drinking" became uncontrollable, destroying themselves and causing untold grief to others - people like Jack London. O. Henry, Sinclair Lewis, Edna St Vincent Milley, Dylan Thomas and many others.

THE CUP OF FURY is a glaring red light of warning to the people of this natio. Impelled by startling facts and statistics about liquor - the extent of it's damage and the cost of it's depredation - Upton Sinclair has acted on the call of his conscience. And each person who, knowing these truths, takes another "drink" will have to answer to his own conscience

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr. was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). To gather information for the novel, Sinclair spent seven weeks undercover working in the meat packing plants of Chicago. These direct experiences exposed the horrific conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. The Jungle has remained continuously in print since its initial publication. In 1919, he published The Brass Check, a muckraking exposé of American journalism that publicized the issue of yellow journalism and the limitations of the “free press” in the United States. Four years after the initial publication of The Brass Check, the first code of ethics for journalists was created. Time magazine called him "a man with every gift except humor and silence." In 1943, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Sinclair also ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Socialist, and was the Democratic Party nominee for Governor of California in 1934, though his highly progressive campaign was defeated.

Reviews

[Crckt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guess what, a lot of writers are miserable fucking drunks, so was Sinclair's father, so he really got beef with booze. This book is basically a litany of many of the brilliant minds that Upton Sinclair came to meet as a result of being a successful writer in the early 1900's. The list reads like a parade of luminaries: Jack London, Sinclair Lewis, H.L. Mencken, and O. Henry to name just a few. With each Sinclair details his connection to each writer and follws with their tragic decline into poverty, madness, and consumption. The book wraps up singing the praises of Bill W. and AA' 12 steps, he takes the position that alcoholism is a disease, and that its cure is spiritual in nature. This last point is probably the most grating as the author frequently reminds the reader of the fact that it is his strong and unwavering Christian faith that steels his reserve against "John Barleycorn."

[Irma Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goddammit Upton Sinclair is a great writer! This book is about his principals, morals, and fears towards alcohol consumption. He chronicles some of his personal relationships with artists he's known who drank for fun, parties, and just to stay alive. There were parts in the book I felt he may have been trying too hard to show that his choice to not drink doesn't come from the fact that he would be a "light weight". But other than that he makes drinkers and drunkards seem sad and lost, which many probably are. One issue Sinclair does checkmate me on is that the urge to drink is a weakness within ones self when the ability to experience natural joy is hindered or nonexistent...I have wine on occasion, and Sinclair would rightly scold me, but I do believe that without a certain measure of abstinence for the sake of purity, The Cup of Fury will have no problem adding me to its list of victims.

[Dean Ripple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1956, The Cup of Fury reads like a response to an age where alcohol was pervasive. The book does a wonderful job of tearing down the glamor of drinking and telling us how alcohol destroyed the lives of multiple famous people. I knew about the decline of many of the people discussed, but not the detailed stories. As one expects with Upton Sinclair, the language and argument are not subtle, and his approach is that of a crusader for virtue. But kudos to him for addressing this issue way back in the 50s! The detailed stories adds impact in a way that the anonymous stories of self-help books does not. Four stars for content and the stories; three stars for moralizing.

[Hannah Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect reading for dry January!

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part autobiography and part biography of the drinking lives of people Upton Sinclair has known, this book unpacks the destruction caused by alcohol abuse. For Sinclair, the lives of the people he's known would have not been doomed for destruction if only they had not been drunkards. But, the people he talks about are literary geniuses. People who would naturally look at the world a little differently and likely have escapism tendencies anyway because of it. I contend that people who are so gifted tend to struggle with depression and anxiety because they were given a different view of the world and are driven to share that view. To unlock secrets the rest of us don't even know are there. Consequently, I believe they would be more suceptible to the dulling power of excessive alcohol consumption, because for a brief moment, all of the chattering of the mind is silenced. Of course, there are plenty of geniuses who don't abuse alcohol and plenty of idiots who do, I'm just saying that for the men and women Sinclair discusses, if it hadn't been alcohol, it would have likely been some other form of escape that would have done them in unless they had a calming influence to counter it. Sinclair refers to his own spiritual relationship with a God, and really, having your hope in the right thing, does help balance the darkness that can creep into the mind.

At any rate, I found the book and stories in it very interesting and the writing compelling. Sinclair's continued persistence in denouncing alcohol altogether does get wearing, but it wouldn't stop me from recommending this book to people who like history, classic literature, or biography genres.

[Joe Mossa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This writer took his writing seriously. He believed he could inform as well as entertain his readers. He built a very strong case against drinking in America in 55. I wonder what he would think if he saw the way American s drink today ? Sad.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating for personal history--preachy but interesting, fast read.

[Greynomad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Question; was he writing a book just to publish a bunch of trash or what

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upton Sinclair is famous for writing The Jungle and won a Pulitzer Prize for writing Dragon's Teeth. His writing is clear, precise and coherent, but I was surprised at the unrelenting repetition of his message in this book, The Cup of Fury. His message is alcohol is not a social lubricant after alcoholism sets in and always changes a person's life for the worse. He is right. He highlights many famous writers and their downfall from alcoholism. His own father and Uncles died from alcoholism.

[Patricia Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a interesting book in several ways. Published in 1956 the writing and the language is different plus it talks about very successful artist, mostly poets, and authors, who became extreme alcoholics and it affected their life negatively hugely. It’s like I did not know Jack London committed suicide with alcohol and drugs at the age of 40. And it also included facts about history that was going on during this time. I’m glad I read the book.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artists/ writers/ movie actors etc often die from alcoholism. Upton Sinclair was asking young people not to start down that avenue and recommending older people to attend AA meetings for the help they need to heal from this disease. The yer was 1956 and AA was two decades old.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to learn about so many authors who were alcoholics.

[Jack Killeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paid a dollar for this

[Ann Straight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Posted as Ann. Summer read. 1957 cr? Alcoholism and gifted writers and AA

[Avis Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alcoholics will hate this book, but it's a necessary read for the sensible. Gore Vidal once said he received a letter from Sinclair that suddenly attacked demon alcohol right out of the blue, which made Vidal uncomfortable. But Sinclair saw an entire generation of talented writers destroyed by drink as well as his own relatives, and he was right to be angry. As for Vidal, he too died a hard-core alcoholic.

[Terragyrl3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preachy; but I found it an interesting account of the author's alcoholic father.