Oil‪!‬

Oil! is a novel by Upton Sinclair, first published in 1927. Told as a third-person narrative, the book tells the story of James Arnold Ross and his son, James Jr., and the oil business in which they operate. With a backdrop of characters who lean more to the socialist and communist side of politics rather than the capitalist one of James Sr., his son becomes disenchanted with the business when he comes to see that his father's methods are not entirely ethical. The story was loosely based on the life of Edward L. Doheny and the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s - a bribery scandal that involved the administraton of President Warren G. Harding, when it was found out that private oil companies had been shown favours in return for money.