Le Mexique puni suivi par le Droit à la vie

by Jack London

C'est entre Tampico et Véra Cruz, au printemps 1914, que Jack London se découvrit Américain d'abord et, seulement ensuite, socialiste. Il suivait, comme journaliste, la correction militaire infligée au Mexique coupable de nationalisation envers les compagnies pétrolières yankees.
En retrouvant parmi les pétroliers quelques-uns de ses compagnons de la Ruée vers l'Or du Klondike (1898), il saluait les mutations de l'aventure, sans en mesurer les conséquences.
En devenant noir, l'or s'est sali.

Comme dans la chanson de P. Mac Orlan :

"On dit que l'argent, c'est bien inodore.
"Le pétrole est là pour vous démentir
"Car à Tampico quand ça s'évapore
"Le passé revient qui vous fait vomir.'"

Traduction et notes par Charles-Noël Martin
Suivi de "le Droit à la vie" traduit par Louis Postif
Préface et bibliographie par Francis Lacassin

315 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 194

About the author

John Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.

London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.

His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".