The Brass Check

Book excerpt: "The most important and most dangerous book I have ever written." -Upton Sinclair, The Brass Check (1919) In The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism (1919) Upton Sinclair sets out to expose the effects of "yellow journalism" and restrictions on the "free press." The book publicizes these issues with stories of lives damaged by bad press. It is remembered for the famous line, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it" and for its contribution to the creation of the first code of ethics for journalists. It is one in a series of six books, the author wrote analyzing American institutions from a socialist perspective. Other books in this muckraking Dead-Hand collection, include: Mammonart (art, 1925), The Profits of Religion (religion, 1917), The Goose-Step (higher education, 1923), The Goslings (education, 1924), and Money Writes! (literature, 1927), all available from Cosimo Classics.