The Call Of The Wild »

Jack London is best known for his books The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea-Wolf, but he was an incredibly prolific writer who left behind more than fifty volumes of novels, stories, journalism, and essays, many of which are still read around the world. Born in San Francisco in 1876 and named John, he adopted the name Jack during an adolescence spent working various hard-labor jobs, and later decided to become a writer in order to escape the fate of life as a factory worker. A summer spent in the Yukon in his twenties provided ample material to launch a career that would see him manipulate the media and embrace the writer persona as few before him had. The first full-length feature film made in America was based on The Sea-Wolf, and London would live to see several of his works adapted for the big screen.

A committed if conflicted socialist, he possessed a strong desire for capitalist success (he endorsed commercial products in advertisements), but would use the platform his fame afforded him to endorse socialism, women's suffrage, and prohibition, and to break the taboo of leprosy. Somewhat ironically, a posthumous myth that London was a womanizing alcoholic who took his own life (despite his actual death of renal failure in 1916) would diminish the weight granted his body of work in the annals of literary and social history.

Jack London became one of, and perhaps the most successful writer of the turn of the 20th century. Fifty-one of his books, innumerous articles and short stories were published, and in addition, materials from his letters and personal journals were published posthumously. The best known of these books is The Call of the Wild. It was published as a serialized story on the Saturday Evening Post from June 20 to July 18, 1903.

Children's Literature

With an introduction by Gary Paulsen, noted author of young people's stories, this Aladdin Classic edition joins 20 others of similar stature as must-reads for any age. The combination of man and dog against the elements of the then untamed North and the anything-goes adventurous nature of Buck, the protagonist, makes for exciting reading. London, the author, draws on his turn of the century experiences during the Goldrush in Alaska. The important element of the dogs in the life and survival of those adventurers brings an exciting element to the story. Dogs were as important as people, and London is at his best in describing this relationship through thick and thin. There is a reading group guide included for classroom use, but the story is a good one for reading aloud within the family, too. 2003 (orig. 1903),