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Jack London: Magnet for Adventure
The story of Jack London's life is one of color and excitement. It is also the story of a dogged determination that overcame all obstacles of poverty.
Self-willed, temperamental, a great gambler with life, his was a constant struggle to make money enough to pay for his lavish enterprises. And always, the lure of Adventure took him to new and exciting places — Hawaii, Japan, Samoa, New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, China — and always he came back home again to his beloved California.
At twelve, Jack London was a wharf rat on the Oakland waterfront. His contact with sailors made him hunger for the sea, and so he bought a skiff, rigged it with a home-made sail, and meandered around the Estuary andSan Francisco Bay. At fifteen, desperate at the deadening toil in a cannery, he borrowed money, bought a sloop — the Razzle Dazzle — and became an oyster pirate.
From that time on, Jack London's feet were set solidly on Adventure's trail. At seventeen he became a member of the crew of a whaling ship the made a seven-months cruise off the coast of Siberia. Later, by rail and on foot, he covered much of the United States and Canada, and during these wanderings he decided to change his way of life and became a writer. He entered Oakland High School at nineteen, and in his frantic pursuit of knowledge, completed the course in a year and a half, then passed the entrance examinations to the University of California.
Later, spurred on by stories he heard of the gold rush, he made his way to the Klondike, and the force of his experiences that brought him fame and made his name one synonymous with adventure. You never think of Jack London but that Call of the Wild, Martin Eden, The Iron Heel, White Fang, come immediately to mind — titles that continue to be best-sellers in this and European countries.
Self-willed, temperamental, a great gambler with life, his was a constant struggle to make money enough to pay for his lavish enterprises. And always, the lure of Adventure took him to new and exciting places — Hawaii, Japan, Samoa, New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, China — and always he came back home again to his beloved California.
At twelve, Jack London was a wharf rat on the Oakland waterfront. His contact with sailors made him hunger for the sea, and so he bought a skiff, rigged it with a home-made sail, and meandered around the Estuary andSan Francisco Bay. At fifteen, desperate at the deadening toil in a cannery, he borrowed money, bought a sloop — the Razzle Dazzle — and became an oyster pirate.
From that time on, Jack London's feet were set solidly on Adventure's trail. At seventeen he became a member of the crew of a whaling ship the made a seven-months cruise off the coast of Siberia. Later, by rail and on foot, he covered much of the United States and Canada, and during these wanderings he decided to change his way of life and became a writer. He entered Oakland High School at nineteen, and in his frantic pursuit of knowledge, completed the course in a year and a half, then passed the entrance examinations to the University of California.
Later, spurred on by stories he heard of the gold rush, he made his way to the Klondike, and the force of his experiences that brought him fame and made his name one synonymous with adventure. You never think of Jack London but that Call of the Wild, Martin Eden, The Iron Heel, White Fang, come immediately to mind — titles that continue to be best-sellers in this and European countries.
217 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1944
7 people want to read
About the author
Shannon Garst
57 booksDoris Garst was born July 24, 1894, in Ironwood, Michigan. She became a teacher and school principal, but quickly turned to writing full-time after her first book, "The Story of Wyoming," was published in 1938. She published under the name Shannon Garst (Shannon was her step-father's surname) because the publisher of her first book didn't believe anyone would read a Western-themed book written by a woman. She lived with her family, including her husband, attorney Joseph Garst, in Douglas, Wyoming. She co-authored three books with her son, Warren Garst. The children's reading room at the Converse County, Wyoming, library is named for her.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 26, 2022
What a sad story. What a life. Apparently he felt at the end that he had somewhat let down the promise of his earlier life, which is sad of course. He just couldn’t seem to say no to people, and seem to trust them even after they had let him down already. False friends abused his hospitality; he had an open door for anyone and everyone. And yet it seems that someone intentionally set fire to his beautiful house on the eve of him moving in. Although he seems to have lost some of his faith in human nature at that point, he continued to entertain people and spend lavishly. He spent so much money! Even though he was making a lot of money, he spent more and was in a great deal of debt. He had quite an adventuresome life — and happily he did have a wife who suited him very well, and with whom he shared many of his adventures. It’s sad that he had no relationship with his daughters. He had a tough upbringing and people helped him along the way, but he worked very very hard. The author treads delicately around some situations but deals with them honestly and unapologetically. A well written, sensitive portrait.
January 20, 2021
¡Sí, estos son mis libros de la niñez! … Y en éste, y otros volúmenes a los que reúno bajo EDICIONES PEUSER, deseo rendir un humilde homenaje en primer lugar, a esta gran editorial que iluminó con literatura, a una innumerable cantidad de familias (como la mía), de conocimiento y pasión por la vida.
Y vaya también las gracias a mi padre por su visión, al acercarme estas joyas literarias a mis ojos anhelantes de colosales mundos nuevos, y despacharlos colmados de viajes… entre simples baldosas.
Y vaya también las gracias a mi padre por su visión, al acercarme estas joyas literarias a mis ojos anhelantes de colosales mundos nuevos, y despacharlos colmados de viajes… entre simples baldosas.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews