Jack London: An American Life

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American, Biography & Memoir, Literary
Cover of the book Jack London: An American Life by Earle Labor, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Earle Labor ISBN: 9781466863163
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: December 24, 2013
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Language: English
Author: Earle Labor
ISBN: 9781466863163
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: December 24, 2013
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Language: English

A revelatory look at the life of the great American author—and how it shaped his most beloved works

Jack London was born a working class, fatherless Californian in 1876. In his youth, he was a boundlessly energetic adventurer on the bustling West Coast—an oyster pirate, a hobo, a sailor, and a prospector by turns. He spent his brief life rapidly accumulating the experiences that would inform his acclaimed bestselling books The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea-Wolf.
The bare outlines of his story suggest a classic rags-to-riches tale, but London the man was plagued by contradictions. He chronicled nature at its most savage, but wept helplessly at the deaths of his favorite animals. At his peak the highest paid writer in the United States, he was nevertheless forced to work under constant pressure for money. An irrepressibly optimistic crusader for social justice and a lover of humanity, he was also subject to spells of bitter invective, especially as his health declined. Branded by shortsighted critics as little more than a hack who produced a couple of memorable dog stories, he left behind a voluminous literary legacy, much of it ripe for rediscovery.
In Jack London: An American Life, the noted Jack London scholar Earle Labor explores the brilliant and complicated novelist lost behind the myth—at once a hard-living globe-trotter and a man alive with ideas, whose passion for seeking new worlds to explore never waned until the day he died. Returning London to his proper place in the American pantheon, Labor resurrects a major American novelist in his full fire and glory.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A revelatory look at the life of the great American author—and how it shaped his most beloved works

Jack London was born a working class, fatherless Californian in 1876. In his youth, he was a boundlessly energetic adventurer on the bustling West Coast—an oyster pirate, a hobo, a sailor, and a prospector by turns. He spent his brief life rapidly accumulating the experiences that would inform his acclaimed bestselling books The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea-Wolf.
The bare outlines of his story suggest a classic rags-to-riches tale, but London the man was plagued by contradictions. He chronicled nature at its most savage, but wept helplessly at the deaths of his favorite animals. At his peak the highest paid writer in the United States, he was nevertheless forced to work under constant pressure for money. An irrepressibly optimistic crusader for social justice and a lover of humanity, he was also subject to spells of bitter invective, especially as his health declined. Branded by shortsighted critics as little more than a hack who produced a couple of memorable dog stories, he left behind a voluminous literary legacy, much of it ripe for rediscovery.
In Jack London: An American Life, the noted Jack London scholar Earle Labor explores the brilliant and complicated novelist lost behind the myth—at once a hard-living globe-trotter and a man alive with ideas, whose passion for seeking new worlds to explore never waned until the day he died. Returning London to his proper place in the American pantheon, Labor resurrects a major American novelist in his full fire and glory.

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book Bug Boy by Earle Labor
Cover of the book 100 Days by Earle Labor
Cover of the book The Twins' Blanket by Earle Labor
Cover of the book The Facts by Earle Labor
Cover of the book Boom! Boom! Boom! by Earle Labor
Cover of the book Heirs of General Practice by Earle Labor
Cover of the book The Devil's Other Storybook by Earle Labor
Cover of the book Sea of Poppies by Earle Labor
Cover of the book The Burden of Proof by Earle Labor
Cover of the book Wonderland by Earle Labor
Cover of the book My Brother's Shadow by Earle Labor
Cover of the book American Jesus by Earle Labor
Cover of the book Who Owns History? by Earle Labor
Cover of the book Machete Season by Earle Labor
Cover of the book The Hatred of Poetry by Earle Labor
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy