“What life means to me is to put the content of Shelley into the form of Zola.”

— Upton Sinclair

Cosmopolitan (October 1906)
Context: What life means to me is to put the content of Shelley into the form of Zola. The proletarian writer is a writer with a purpose; he thinks no more of "art for art's sake" than a man on a sinking ship thinks of painting a beautiful picture in the cabin; he thinks of getting ashore — and then there will be time enough for art.

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Upton Sinclair 50

American novelist, writer, journalist, political activist 1878–1968

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