Oil!
Sinclair published this sprawling novel in 1926 and 1927, drawing on the Teapot Dome bribery scandal and the wildcat oil boom of Southern California. At its center is Bunny Ross, the thoughtful son of a self-made oil tycoon, who loves and admires his father even as he grows uneasy about how the fortune is made. Around them Sinclair packs a whole era: crooked politicians, revival preachers, striking oil workers, Hollywood, and the young radicals Bunny is drawn toward. The book is at once a family story and a wide social panorama of American capitalism in the 1920s. It later gave loose inspiration to the film There Will Be Blood. This edition is free to download as a PDF and EPUB.
About the Author
Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) was an American writer and reformer, author of the muckraking classic The Jungle. A prolific novelist, he won the Pulitzer Prize and profoundly influenced American social thought.
See all books by Upton Sinclair →
Listen to Oil! Audiobook Free
Listen to Oil! by Upton Sinclair free online. The full audiobook (26 hr 26 min, 40 chapters, read by Bob R) streams free on this page.
Oil! (1927) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preface | 2:00 | |
| 2 | The Ride | 1:07:15 | |
| 3 | The Lease, Parts 1-5 | 41:08 | |
| 4 | The Lease, Parts 6-9 | 34:50 | |
| 5 | The Drilling, Parts 1-5 | 44:24 | |
| 6 | The Drilling, Parts 6-8 | 44:36 | |
| 7 | The Ranch, Parts 1-5 | 43:41 | |
| 8 | The Ranch, Parts 6-9 | 37:09 | |
| 9 | The Revelation, Parts 1-4 | 40:53 | |
| 10 | The Revelation, Parts 5-7 | 40:27 | |
| 11 | The Wildcat, Parts 1-4 | 40:00 | |
| 12 | The Wildcat, Parts 5-8 | 46:25 | |
| 13 | The Strike, Parts 1-4 | 47:36 | |
| 14 | The Strike, Parts 5-9 | 50:08 | |
| 15 | The War, Parts 1-5 | 36:18 | |
| 16 | The War, Parts 6-9 | 22:40 | |
| 17 | The Victory | 1:00:13 | |
| 18 | The University, Parts 1-5 | 34:18 | |
| 19 | The University, Parts 6-11 | 43:33 | |
| 20 | The Rebel, Parts 1-6 | 34:50 | |
| 21 | The Rebel, Parts 7-11 | 37:01 | |
| 22 | The Siren, Parts 1-6 | 32:59 | |
| 23 | The Siren, Parts 7-12 | 35:17 | |
| 24 | The Monastery, Parts 1-7 | 44:46 | |
| 25 | The Monastery, Parts 8-14 | 33:49 | |
| 26 | The Star, Parts 1-7 | 40:56 | |
| 27 | The Star, Parts 8-16 | 49:27 | |
| 28 | The Vacation, Parts 1-6 | 44:11 | |
| 29 | The Vacation, Parts 7-11 | 33:56 | |
| 30 | The Killing, Parts 1-5 | 29:22 | |
| 31 | The Killing, Parts 6-10 | 38:47 | |
| 32 | The Exposure, Parts 1-5 | 36:33 | |
| 33 | The Exposure, Parts 6-11 | 40:52 | |
| 34 | The Flight, Parts 1-7 | 42:54 | |
| 35 | The Flight, Parts 8-11 | 30:23 | |
| 36 | The Penalty, Parts 1-5 | 31:27 | |
| 37 | The Penalty, Parts 6-10 | 28:36 | |
| 38 | The Dedication | 54:20 | |
| 39 | The Honeymoon, Parts 1-7 | 47:08 | |
| 40 | The Honeymoon, Parts 8-15 | 41:16 |
Prefer reading? Read Oil! online free or download the PDF and EPUB above.
