I’ve been blogging from time to time about Peak Oil. Oil has been at the center of many a political fight for 100 years. In fact, a 1927 novel called Oil! was the inspiration for one of 2007’s most honored motion pictures, including eight Oscar nominations announced today.
There Will Be Blood was nominated for best picture, best director (Paul Thomas Anderson), and best actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), and in five other categories.
It is based on the classic novel by Upton Sinclair. As a book reviewer, I receive complimentary copies of many books and can only review only a few of them. When the publicist for the reissue of Oil! offered me a copy, I told her that I would consider bringing it to the attention of my blog readers.
A quick overview tells me that a number of you might find it provocative reading, especially as Peak Oil slowly emerges onto the political scene.
So I will close this post with the back cover blurb from the new Penguin paperback edition (ISBN 978-0-14-311226-6). If you feel inspired to buy it and would like to make sure I receive a commission for bringing it to your attention, please use the Amazon.com gateway on the Science Shelf book review archive home page.
As he did so masterfully in The Jungle, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Upton Sinclair interweaves social criticism with human tragedy in this glorious 1927 novel to create an unforgettable portrait of Southern California’s early oil industry. Enraged by the oil scandals of the Harding administration in the 1920s, Sinclair tells a gripping tale of avarice, corruption, and class warfare, featuring a cavalcade of characters, including senators, oil magnates, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist. Sinclair’s epic drama endures as one of our most powerful American novels of social injustice.
Hmmm… I can only wonder what Sinclair would have done with our current president, vice president, and crusading evangelists with political goals.
Happy reading all!
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