Sinclair was not a great writer in terms of style and aesthetics. He wrote for the people, the masses, and not for the critics, reviewers, or intellectuals. His experience in writing half-dime novels had prepared him to write for the mass circulation audience. Sinclair’s easily understood characters and plots were not fashionable at a time when authors like William Faulkner and James Joyce were intriguing the critics with complex, hard-to-understand characters and plots. He said that he always tried to have something worthwhile to say and to write it so that "the ordinary man and woman can get my meaning."
