[brekk]

pair of "muck raking" books by eric schlausser.

The former is an inside look at the darkside of fast food, from the conditions of workers at meat processing plants, (think The Jungle) to a large detailed section about the chemical plants in New Jersey that make your fast food taste like what its supposed to. I read it senior year of highschool, and did not eat fast food for 2 years afterwords.

The latter is a look at the 3 largest black markets in the US; Marijuana, Porn, and Immigrant Labor. His section on Marijuana is especially interesting, it does not focus on wether MJ should be legal or not, but rather the inconsistencies of the laws regarding it across the nation, and also the amount of struggling farmers who are now growing some MJ on the side to keep their farms afloat. Its currently the second largest US cash crop behind Corn, and will surpass Corn by 2010.

I read them at the same time as The Jungle, and would say they are very good modern matches to that very important peace of work.