Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)
BOOK REVIEWS - John C. Chalberg: Lehel Vadon: Upton Sinclair in Hungary. Eger, Hungary: College Press, 1993. 125 pp
have seen, Sinclair leaned most decisively in the anti-Nazi direction. That he was subjected to attacks from the right should not be surprising. But Professor Vadon is interested in examining the critics to Sinclair's left. It is noteworthy that democratic socialist Upton Sinclair first received acclaim in Hungary because of his commitment to that version of socialism. A half century later Upton Sinclair was still firmly in the democratic socialist camp. But for a time during the height of the Cold War that very commitment to democratic socialism was more than enough to call his immortality into question —at least in what once constituted the "Soviet bloc" countries. Lehel Vadon has painstakingly charted Upton Sinclair's flirtations with immortality —and official death —and rebirth —in Hungary. Let us be thankful for this historian's efforts. And let us all hope that Sinclair's future rests on his literary merits —or demerits —and not on the machinations of political regimes, east or west. 174
