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Wolf: The Lives of Jack London
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—by turns playing the role of hobo, sailor, prospector, and oyster pirate. He spent his brief life rapidly accumulating the experiences that would inform his acclaimed, best-selling books: The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf. London 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 America, he was nevertheless constantly broke. An irrepressibly optimistic crusader for social justice, he burned himself out at forty: sick, angry, and disillusioned, but leaving behind a voluminous literary legacy, much of it ripe for rediscovery.
In Wolf, award-winning author James L. Haley explores the forgotten Jack London—at once a hard-living globetrotter and a man alive with ideas, whose passion for social justice roared until the day he died. Returning London to his proper place in the American pantheon, Wolf resurrects a major American novelist in his full fire and glory.
In Wolf, award-winning author James L. Haley explores the forgotten Jack London—at once a hard-living globetrotter and a man alive with ideas, whose passion for social justice roared until the day he died. Returning London to his proper place in the American pantheon, Wolf resurrects a major American novelist in his full fire and glory.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published April 13, 2010
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February 13, 2016
Jack London lived a great life and this is a very readable no-nonsense biography which along with packing in all the frantic eyepopping thrills and spills of Jack’s hectic – I mean HECTIC – life, also throws up some fascinating issues.
Jack was born poor to a bizarre slightly unhinged termagant of a mother and a father who disappeared; the mother got a new husband who had a three-foot long beard and was a cool stand-up guy but no good at paying the bills. At the age of 15 Jack left school and became in his words a Work Beast, doing a string of ghastly jobs for ten cents an hour and working 12 or 14 hour shifts. Then he became an oyster pirate, which was more money but really dangerous, like people died a lot, then he became an oyster pirate catcher, then a seal hunter on the open seas up to his chin in skinned carcasses and a typhoon about to blow, holy shit, did people really do this stuff – yes they DID - Then he became a stoker shovelling coal & quit when he found out he was doing the work of two guys who they’d just fired, then he got turned on to the workers’ struggle and hit the road as part of Kelly’s Army, which was a giant organised/chaotic march/but with a lot of trains involved from various places converging on Washington to protest against unemployment. This was in 1894. So then he dropped out of that and became a tramp.
He gets arrested and thrown in jail. He’s released and rides the blinds (that’s the small area between goods wagons that the brakeman can’t see when he’s looking back down the track – if he could see any part of you he’ll throw you off the train, unless you could bribe him, which you couldn’t. Riding the blinds is a lot better than riding the rails, which is where you could lose a hand or a foot. So that’s a good thing to remember if you ever find yourself broke, busted, disgusted, ragged and dirty and looking to get back to San Francisco). Anyway then for a brief spell he went back to school (aged 19) but that was blown out by the Klondike Gold Rush – about a week after the first mad-eyed prospector waddled down the gangplank of the Excelsior on 14 July 1897 shouting “I’m rich, boys!” thousands of idiots were geared up and ready to roll. One such idiot was Jack and the whole adventure nearly killed him – there was no gold for Jack in the Yukon . Or was there? Well, y’know, he brought back gold all right – it’s just that you couldn’t see it until he started writing stories about the frozen north. Then you could, and his vertiginous rise to become America’s favourite author by the age of 27 began to unfold.
By which time he had lived intensely in three very particular subcultures: as a sailor; as a tramp; and as a prisoner. In 1903 he wrote to his second wife to be, Charmian, about an IDEA he had cherished for I don't know how long. And I think no wife would really want to know about it, either :
Shall I tell you of a dream of my boyhood and manhood? … I had dreamed of the great Man-Comrade… [but] I could never hope to find that comradeship, that closeness, that sympathy and understanding, whereby the man and I might merge and become one for love and life. How can I say what I mean? This man should be so much one with me that we could never misunderstand it. He should love the flesh, as he should the spirit, honoring and loving each and giving each its due…
He had explained this dream to other women in the past and they’d always reacted with horror and anger, but Charmian was different and it didn’t faze her. She married him and he soon found a Male Companion. At the same time he was at pains to deny he was a homosexual. But James Haley says that that was because he had a very particular view of what homosexuals were :
the only frame of reference they [Jack and his Male Companion] would have had for homosexuality in that era were the effeminate, rouge-cheeked inverts London had seen lounging about the Flatiron Building, mincing and posing
Hmm, well – this appears to mean that all the situational homosexuality JL was part of as a tramp, sailor and prisoner (which he half acknowledged) was not thought to make a person homosexual. I think we’re in the realm of Queer Theory here – are there gay people, or just gay acts? Whatever, Jack London makes a fascinating case study.
This boggled my mind. Haley is describing the great element of fun in Charmian and Jack’s marriage :
To prove her gameness she even boxed with him. She stood in and took her licks and occasionally landed a shot of her own, one occasionally drawing blood from the other… It would have been a high price for a woman to pay for a man, had Charmian not understood the nature of the sport and been keen to compete…. She also noted that he never took cheap shots at her and never landed punches on any “feminine unmentionables”
What? Read that back to me! Bang! – splurge…. that’s the sound of my brain exploding with the attempt to understand the sexual politics of all of this.
As well as writing he-man, proto-environmentalist novels JL was also a raving socialist, ready to capsize his huge popularity by publicly advocating such things as an end to child labour, better conditions in factories, recognition of unions – all crazy leftwing madness as you see. The public loved his sstories and hated his politics but he didn’t have time to bother about that, he was off to cover a war between Japan and Russia, or he was off sailing round the world, which he didn’t manage, but he did get to Hawaii and discover surfing and wrote an article and thereby become the unwitting grandfather of the Beach Boys (yes, someone would have done that eventually, but Jack did do it).
Jack London had many great and soaring aspects to his personality and his life, as well as a few not great ones (such as alcoholism, which he faced up to and wrote a whole book about. And I wasn’t keen on the wife boxing.). He was a fantastic human being. That's what he was.
Jack was born poor to a bizarre slightly unhinged termagant of a mother and a father who disappeared; the mother got a new husband who had a three-foot long beard and was a cool stand-up guy but no good at paying the bills. At the age of 15 Jack left school and became in his words a Work Beast, doing a string of ghastly jobs for ten cents an hour and working 12 or 14 hour shifts. Then he became an oyster pirate, which was more money but really dangerous, like people died a lot, then he became an oyster pirate catcher, then a seal hunter on the open seas up to his chin in skinned carcasses and a typhoon about to blow, holy shit, did people really do this stuff – yes they DID - Then he became a stoker shovelling coal & quit when he found out he was doing the work of two guys who they’d just fired, then he got turned on to the workers’ struggle and hit the road as part of Kelly’s Army, which was a giant organised/chaotic march/but with a lot of trains involved from various places converging on Washington to protest against unemployment. This was in 1894. So then he dropped out of that and became a tramp.
He gets arrested and thrown in jail. He’s released and rides the blinds (that’s the small area between goods wagons that the brakeman can’t see when he’s looking back down the track – if he could see any part of you he’ll throw you off the train, unless you could bribe him, which you couldn’t. Riding the blinds is a lot better than riding the rails, which is where you could lose a hand or a foot. So that’s a good thing to remember if you ever find yourself broke, busted, disgusted, ragged and dirty and looking to get back to San Francisco). Anyway then for a brief spell he went back to school (aged 19) but that was blown out by the Klondike Gold Rush – about a week after the first mad-eyed prospector waddled down the gangplank of the Excelsior on 14 July 1897 shouting “I’m rich, boys!” thousands of idiots were geared up and ready to roll. One such idiot was Jack and the whole adventure nearly killed him – there was no gold for Jack in the Yukon . Or was there? Well, y’know, he brought back gold all right – it’s just that you couldn’t see it until he started writing stories about the frozen north. Then you could, and his vertiginous rise to become America’s favourite author by the age of 27 began to unfold.
By which time he had lived intensely in three very particular subcultures: as a sailor; as a tramp; and as a prisoner. In 1903 he wrote to his second wife to be, Charmian, about an IDEA he had cherished for I don't know how long. And I think no wife would really want to know about it, either :
Shall I tell you of a dream of my boyhood and manhood? … I had dreamed of the great Man-Comrade… [but] I could never hope to find that comradeship, that closeness, that sympathy and understanding, whereby the man and I might merge and become one for love and life. How can I say what I mean? This man should be so much one with me that we could never misunderstand it. He should love the flesh, as he should the spirit, honoring and loving each and giving each its due…
He had explained this dream to other women in the past and they’d always reacted with horror and anger, but Charmian was different and it didn’t faze her. She married him and he soon found a Male Companion. At the same time he was at pains to deny he was a homosexual. But James Haley says that that was because he had a very particular view of what homosexuals were :
the only frame of reference they [Jack and his Male Companion] would have had for homosexuality in that era were the effeminate, rouge-cheeked inverts London had seen lounging about the Flatiron Building, mincing and posing
Hmm, well – this appears to mean that all the situational homosexuality JL was part of as a tramp, sailor and prisoner (which he half acknowledged) was not thought to make a person homosexual. I think we’re in the realm of Queer Theory here – are there gay people, or just gay acts? Whatever, Jack London makes a fascinating case study.
This boggled my mind. Haley is describing the great element of fun in Charmian and Jack’s marriage :
To prove her gameness she even boxed with him. She stood in and took her licks and occasionally landed a shot of her own, one occasionally drawing blood from the other… It would have been a high price for a woman to pay for a man, had Charmian not understood the nature of the sport and been keen to compete…. She also noted that he never took cheap shots at her and never landed punches on any “feminine unmentionables”
What? Read that back to me! Bang! – splurge…. that’s the sound of my brain exploding with the attempt to understand the sexual politics of all of this.
As well as writing he-man, proto-environmentalist novels JL was also a raving socialist, ready to capsize his huge popularity by publicly advocating such things as an end to child labour, better conditions in factories, recognition of unions – all crazy leftwing madness as you see. The public loved his sstories and hated his politics but he didn’t have time to bother about that, he was off to cover a war between Japan and Russia, or he was off sailing round the world, which he didn’t manage, but he did get to Hawaii and discover surfing and wrote an article and thereby become the unwitting grandfather of the Beach Boys (yes, someone would have done that eventually, but Jack did do it).
Jack London had many great and soaring aspects to his personality and his life, as well as a few not great ones (such as alcoholism, which he faced up to and wrote a whole book about. And I wasn’t keen on the wife boxing.). He was a fantastic human being. That's what he was.
October 11, 2017
Holy shnikeys, did I ever underestimate Jack London! Growing up, I only knew him from his Alaskan adventure stories. Later on I discovered his semi-autobiographical stories of working both sides of the law in the San Francisco bay waters. However, only now did I learn of his strident socialism.
There's a reason for that. It's been downplayed. Even after his death he was investigated by the FBI and McCarthy for his socialist leanings. Since the public loved him so dang much for Call of the Wild and White Fang, the best the government could do was suppress his leftist history. So, schools cut that part of his life out of his history. It's a shame, because as it turns out, he wasn't a raving anarchist, but a moderate socialist who believed in a restrained capitalism. He felt an unleashed capitalism allowed for the excesses that created robber barons and labor abuses. He was absolutely right. Look at Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. Hell, look at America at just about any dang time!
Politics weigh upon James L. Haley's marvelous biography of the writer, but it's done with balance. Politics were as much a part of London's life as was his writing and love life. These aspects of London intermingle and entwine perfectly throughout Wolf, while capturing the essence of a man and mind ever changing.
London's life was one of striving, of defeats and of victories. His life is a prime example of the American rags-to-riches dream. He is the ideal of the modern reader's fascination with the "troubled protagonist" in fiction. London was a highly nuanced man and this book paints all of that complexity perfectly.
There's a reason for that. It's been downplayed. Even after his death he was investigated by the FBI and McCarthy for his socialist leanings. Since the public loved him so dang much for Call of the Wild and White Fang, the best the government could do was suppress his leftist history. So, schools cut that part of his life out of his history. It's a shame, because as it turns out, he wasn't a raving anarchist, but a moderate socialist who believed in a restrained capitalism. He felt an unleashed capitalism allowed for the excesses that created robber barons and labor abuses. He was absolutely right. Look at Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. Hell, look at America at just about any dang time!
Politics weigh upon James L. Haley's marvelous biography of the writer, but it's done with balance. Politics were as much a part of London's life as was his writing and love life. These aspects of London intermingle and entwine perfectly throughout Wolf, while capturing the essence of a man and mind ever changing.
London's life was one of striving, of defeats and of victories. His life is a prime example of the American rags-to-riches dream. He is the ideal of the modern reader's fascination with the "troubled protagonist" in fiction. London was a highly nuanced man and this book paints all of that complexity perfectly.
July 10, 2024
”I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
Jack London was the most popular American author of his day, supplanting even the iconic Mark Twain in the first decade of the 20th century. He was prolific, writing more than 1000 words a day. He was eclectic, writing social commentary, action stories, science fiction, dystopian fiction, political commentary, war correspondence, travel literature and more. He was a bona fide national celebrity, by turns fascinating, scandalizing, and angering the American public.
James Haley opens with how Jack London’s passionately held and loudly proclaimed socialism and social conscience has relegated him to a second tier in American literature. His work was too popular for him to be forgotten, so instead his memory was truncated and he was sanitized into a writer of boy’s action adventures, his books of scathing social commentary largely forgotten. Haley writes:
”After his death, memory of his politics was conveniently erased, and he was refashioned as the quintessential author of boy’s adventure stories. He thus became, and remains, perhaps the most misunderstood figure in the American literary canon.”
”During the Red Scares of the 1920s and 1950s his attacks on capitalism called his American loyalties so much into question that, though he was long dead, the FBI opened a dossier on him. Too popular to suppress, he was retained as a literary icon of juvenile adventure, and his keen sense of social justice was quietly forgotten, except by college professors and dedicated socialists.”
Haley captures London’s extraordinary life and remarkable path to fame. Oyster pirate, able seaman on a sealing schooner, tramp marching and riding rails in Coxey’s Army, and gold prospector in the Yukon — London had been all these things by 18. With little formal schooling, London was a brilliant autodidact, nursing a passion for books despite the rough company he kept as a youth. All these experiences provided the raw material for his writing, and the motivation to demand a better world that inspired his socialism.
Wolf: The Lives of Jack London examines this brilliant, remarkable, flawed, and contradictory man and his too brief lifetime. It restores the full picture of the man, the writer, and the activist in all its complexity
Jack London was the most popular American author of his day, supplanting even the iconic Mark Twain in the first decade of the 20th century. He was prolific, writing more than 1000 words a day. He was eclectic, writing social commentary, action stories, science fiction, dystopian fiction, political commentary, war correspondence, travel literature and more. He was a bona fide national celebrity, by turns fascinating, scandalizing, and angering the American public.
James Haley opens with how Jack London’s passionately held and loudly proclaimed socialism and social conscience has relegated him to a second tier in American literature. His work was too popular for him to be forgotten, so instead his memory was truncated and he was sanitized into a writer of boy’s action adventures, his books of scathing social commentary largely forgotten. Haley writes:
”After his death, memory of his politics was conveniently erased, and he was refashioned as the quintessential author of boy’s adventure stories. He thus became, and remains, perhaps the most misunderstood figure in the American literary canon.”
”During the Red Scares of the 1920s and 1950s his attacks on capitalism called his American loyalties so much into question that, though he was long dead, the FBI opened a dossier on him. Too popular to suppress, he was retained as a literary icon of juvenile adventure, and his keen sense of social justice was quietly forgotten, except by college professors and dedicated socialists.”
Haley captures London’s extraordinary life and remarkable path to fame. Oyster pirate, able seaman on a sealing schooner, tramp marching and riding rails in Coxey’s Army, and gold prospector in the Yukon — London had been all these things by 18. With little formal schooling, London was a brilliant autodidact, nursing a passion for books despite the rough company he kept as a youth. All these experiences provided the raw material for his writing, and the motivation to demand a better world that inspired his socialism.
Wolf: The Lives of Jack London examines this brilliant, remarkable, flawed, and contradictory man and his too brief lifetime. It restores the full picture of the man, the writer, and the activist in all its complexity
June 2, 2020
iscrpna i nepristrana biografija jack londona, za moj ukus i predetaljna - aktivno čitanje uz filtriranje informacija koje su mi interesantne i one koje su mi suvišne (tipa tko je igrao koju utakmicu protiv koga 189ineke i koji je bio rezultat).
za ljubitelje jack londona - ovdje ćeš naći cjelokupni njegov život, potkrijepljen izvorima (članci, pisma, drugi autori koji se bave njime) ili za one koje jednostavno interesira bogati život jednog fascinantnog avanturista koji je, između ostalog, bio gusar, lovac na kitove, pisac, ratni dopisnik, otac, suprug, ljubavnik, a samog sebe cijeli život nazivao "radnom životinjom".
za ljubitelje jack londona - ovdje ćeš naći cjelokupni njegov život, potkrijepljen izvorima (članci, pisma, drugi autori koji se bave njime) ili za one koje jednostavno interesira bogati život jednog fascinantnog avanturista koji je, između ostalog, bio gusar, lovac na kitove, pisac, ratni dopisnik, otac, suprug, ljubavnik, a samog sebe cijeli život nazivao "radnom životinjom".
April 25, 2016
The first American writer as Cover Boy, and a precursor to Dos Passos, Steinbeck and, of course, Hemingway, London (born into poverty) had a short life that roars along like a movie-radio serial: Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Capt Marvel, Ace Drummond or Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy ! Each life segment ends with a melodramatic cliff-hanger "til next week" in this, the best of 3 London bios I've read. Can it all be true?? Apparently, yes.
Jack, illegitimate, barely survives a Dickensian childhood in SF-Oakland working for 10 cents/ 12, 15 hours a day stuffing pickles into bottles, setting up pins in a bowling alley, shoveling coal...yet always winning friends because of his beguiling personality -- and keeping bullies at bay, w his small, but muscular frame, and surviving brawls that knock out his teeth. His mother, a crackpot spiritualist, holds seances for money. He finds freedom in books -- Melville, Kipling, Zola -- and sailing boats around San Francisco bay. A fearless, daredevil teen he becomes an oyster pirate and learns all about Life while drinking hard and hitting the saloons in the Tenderloin and along the coast. This seamy side is told with startling lucidity in his stories and novels, along with his 7-months on a schooner to Japan, age 17, a trip to the Klondike for gold (he came back broke) and weeks as a hobo-on-trains across the US, which gets him a month in jail upstate NY. Brutal incidents pushed him toward socialism, which he hoped would make the future better for the poor and outcasts.
When he sat down to write, w Mum's approval, in his early 20s, his spare, naturalistic style -- far removed from the drawing rooms of Edith Wharton & Henry James -- stunned American readers, who quickly wanted more, lots more of Jack London's new, vigorous voice. A friend sent him to the German emigre photographer Arnold Genthe, who recalled, "He had a poignantly sensitive face, his eyes were the eyes of a dreamer.. there was almost a feminine wistfulness about him, yet he gave the feeling of an unconquerable physical force." The Call of the Wild (1903) and The Sea Wolf a year later riveted the public like a one-two punch. Sought after by the press, socialites, bohemians, socialists, the literary poohbahs, he kept to a schedule of 1,000 words a day.
But he was always overburdened with debts : a new wife, an exwife w two daughters, his Mum, a black nurse from childhood -- and he spent, and drank, recklessly. One writer puts it this way, London (1876-1916), "His blazing life resembled that of a miner who hit the mother lode and went on a spree in town." He married his first wife for companionship-a suitable friendship. She turned out to be stodgy and conventional. A randy fella, he was quickly attracted to his 2d (Charmian), who was "up" for anything, even when he taught her to box with him.
This bio discusses his personal vision as told to Charmian:
"There was always something greater that I yearned after.. I had dreamed of the great Man-Comrade...how can I say what I mean? A man who had no smallness or meanness, who could sin greatly, perhaps, but who could as greatly forgive..." Charmian, says the author, accepted his dream. London had a long, close relationship with local poet George Sterling, who was shattered when London married Charmian. London told Sterling that any dream of theirs was "too bright to last." The writer Ambrose Bierce said, "George would not acquaint me with his trouble...something about Jack London, wasn't it?"
London learned early all about the ways of the world. He had to. Once out drinking with his buddies, London reminded them that whether a teen sailor, a hobo on a train or thrown into jail, well, sex happens when men are herded together. "It's a perfectly natural result." But added that he'd always fought off unwanted advances. After beating up a sailor en route to Japan, London, who was pretty well battered, said, now, "Will you leave me alone?"
An extrovert who loved being with people, London knew Upton Sinclair, Ambrose Bierce, Sinclair Lewis and Emma Goldman who praised his "humanity and feeling for the complexities of the human heart." His creative spirit, she reflected, is "the breath of his life." When his health rapidly failed in 1915-1916, he still wrote, acquired ranch land and negotiated movie deals. Charmian remained devoted. The night before he died, his last words to her were, "Thank God, you're not afraid of anything."
London's credo: "The function of man is to live, not to exist...I shall use my time."
His most autobiographical novel, "Martin Eden," (1909) was, he felt, misunderstood, because few realized it was an attack on Nietzsche and his super-man idea. His ideal was of a cleaner, better, nobler world.
Charmian died in 1955. After Jack's death she reportedly had a romance with Houdini.
Jack, illegitimate, barely survives a Dickensian childhood in SF-Oakland working for 10 cents/ 12, 15 hours a day stuffing pickles into bottles, setting up pins in a bowling alley, shoveling coal...yet always winning friends because of his beguiling personality -- and keeping bullies at bay, w his small, but muscular frame, and surviving brawls that knock out his teeth. His mother, a crackpot spiritualist, holds seances for money. He finds freedom in books -- Melville, Kipling, Zola -- and sailing boats around San Francisco bay. A fearless, daredevil teen he becomes an oyster pirate and learns all about Life while drinking hard and hitting the saloons in the Tenderloin and along the coast. This seamy side is told with startling lucidity in his stories and novels, along with his 7-months on a schooner to Japan, age 17, a trip to the Klondike for gold (he came back broke) and weeks as a hobo-on-trains across the US, which gets him a month in jail upstate NY. Brutal incidents pushed him toward socialism, which he hoped would make the future better for the poor and outcasts.
When he sat down to write, w Mum's approval, in his early 20s, his spare, naturalistic style -- far removed from the drawing rooms of Edith Wharton & Henry James -- stunned American readers, who quickly wanted more, lots more of Jack London's new, vigorous voice. A friend sent him to the German emigre photographer Arnold Genthe, who recalled, "He had a poignantly sensitive face, his eyes were the eyes of a dreamer.. there was almost a feminine wistfulness about him, yet he gave the feeling of an unconquerable physical force." The Call of the Wild (1903) and The Sea Wolf a year later riveted the public like a one-two punch. Sought after by the press, socialites, bohemians, socialists, the literary poohbahs, he kept to a schedule of 1,000 words a day.
But he was always overburdened with debts : a new wife, an exwife w two daughters, his Mum, a black nurse from childhood -- and he spent, and drank, recklessly. One writer puts it this way, London (1876-1916), "His blazing life resembled that of a miner who hit the mother lode and went on a spree in town." He married his first wife for companionship-a suitable friendship. She turned out to be stodgy and conventional. A randy fella, he was quickly attracted to his 2d (Charmian), who was "up" for anything, even when he taught her to box with him.
This bio discusses his personal vision as told to Charmian:
"There was always something greater that I yearned after.. I had dreamed of the great Man-Comrade...how can I say what I mean? A man who had no smallness or meanness, who could sin greatly, perhaps, but who could as greatly forgive..." Charmian, says the author, accepted his dream. London had a long, close relationship with local poet George Sterling, who was shattered when London married Charmian. London told Sterling that any dream of theirs was "too bright to last." The writer Ambrose Bierce said, "George would not acquaint me with his trouble...something about Jack London, wasn't it?"
London learned early all about the ways of the world. He had to. Once out drinking with his buddies, London reminded them that whether a teen sailor, a hobo on a train or thrown into jail, well, sex happens when men are herded together. "It's a perfectly natural result." But added that he'd always fought off unwanted advances. After beating up a sailor en route to Japan, London, who was pretty well battered, said, now, "Will you leave me alone?"
An extrovert who loved being with people, London knew Upton Sinclair, Ambrose Bierce, Sinclair Lewis and Emma Goldman who praised his "humanity and feeling for the complexities of the human heart." His creative spirit, she reflected, is "the breath of his life." When his health rapidly failed in 1915-1916, he still wrote, acquired ranch land and negotiated movie deals. Charmian remained devoted. The night before he died, his last words to her were, "Thank God, you're not afraid of anything."
London's credo: "The function of man is to live, not to exist...I shall use my time."
His most autobiographical novel, "Martin Eden," (1909) was, he felt, misunderstood, because few realized it was an attack on Nietzsche and his super-man idea. His ideal was of a cleaner, better, nobler world.
Charmian died in 1955. After Jack's death she reportedly had a romance with Houdini.
February 7, 2019
If anything, my only complaint about this excellent London bio is its shortness. It felt like it could've been twice as long, and I would've been fine with that. The reason is because at the beginning Haley sets out with a clear and noble goal: to reconcile London the author with London the revolutionist/socialist. The first Jack London everybody loves. Who doesn't like books about dogs, sadistic sea captains, and dogs? The second Jack London gets ignored or quietly pushed into a corner. Who likes social change, the homeless, or the poor of East London? C'mon.
London was a passionate advocate for fairness and social change. He championed the poor and dissolute. A lot of people in his own time hated him for it and I guess if people knew anything anymore they'd do the same now.
Haley tries to bring these two strands of London together to make a complete picture and he succeeds, but at the expense, crazily, of the first London! The actual literary work gets short thrift. London's works are mentioned and discussed, but often in less than a paragraph. While we can't expect Frank-sized Dostoevskyian colossala, I'd liked to have seen a lot more about the intersection of London's work with his life. I don't think he was the blindly groping hack that he sort of comes across as here.
Anyhow, a very good book with a nice balance of sources. London's anal fistulas get mentioned a lot, for medical folks, I guess.
London was a passionate advocate for fairness and social change. He championed the poor and dissolute. A lot of people in his own time hated him for it and I guess if people knew anything anymore they'd do the same now.
Haley tries to bring these two strands of London together to make a complete picture and he succeeds, but at the expense, crazily, of the first London! The actual literary work gets short thrift. London's works are mentioned and discussed, but often in less than a paragraph. While we can't expect Frank-sized Dostoevskyian colossala, I'd liked to have seen a lot more about the intersection of London's work with his life. I don't think he was the blindly groping hack that he sort of comes across as here.
Anyhow, a very good book with a nice balance of sources. London's anal fistulas get mentioned a lot, for medical folks, I guess.
January 7, 2020
Fascinating-if at times a little unnerving-this is a detailed and thought provoking biography of a man who was truly "larger than life!"
February 14, 2020
"Verčiau būsiu pelenai negu dulkės!
Verčiau mano gyvybė tesudega ryškia liepsna, nei po puvėsiais užtrokšta.
Verčiau būsiu ryškus meteoras, kurio kiekviena dalelytė žėri didingo grožio šviesa, nei būsiu mieguista, vangi amžina planeta.
Žmogaus paskirtis gyventi, ne egzistuoti.
Aš neeikvosiu savo dienų, mėgindamas jas pailginti.
Aš išnaudosiu savo laiką."
Verčiau mano gyvybė tesudega ryškia liepsna, nei po puvėsiais užtrokšta.
Verčiau būsiu ryškus meteoras, kurio kiekviena dalelytė žėri didingo grožio šviesa, nei būsiu mieguista, vangi amžina planeta.
Žmogaus paskirtis gyventi, ne egzistuoti.
Aš neeikvosiu savo dienų, mėgindamas jas pailginti.
Aš išnaudosiu savo laiką."
August 22, 2017
Bad writing. Interesting life. Interesting details are there, but plowing thru the prose is difficult at times.
May 30, 2025
I had zero expectations going into this, but it turned out to be one of the best biographies I've ever read. I love a biographer who starts by stressing that different historical accounts contradict one another and then establishes an approach of discussing each varying account of a story, event, relationship, etc and then assessing which is most likely true while giving credence to each. That's what Andrew Roberts does in Napoleon: A Life and it's part of what made that book such an incredible biography, and it's the opposite of what David McCullough did in Truman, in which he couldn't remain objective at all and, as a result, created a biography totally void of any value.
As for London himself, all I knew was that he wrote a couple Alaska adventures and The Iron Heel, which is one of the best dystopians of all time. It turns out his life was extraordinary:
- In his youth, he was an oyster pirate
- He spent part of his life as a hobo
- He's credited with writing the article about surfing that brought attention to it outside of Hawaii and made the sport boom in popularity
- He was one of the top war correspondents of the day
- At his peak, he was the most popular writer in America
- He died at the age of 40
- The FBI created a case file about him after his death due to how outspoken he'd been about socialism.
As for London himself, all I knew was that he wrote a couple Alaska adventures and The Iron Heel, which is one of the best dystopians of all time. It turns out his life was extraordinary:
- In his youth, he was an oyster pirate
- He spent part of his life as a hobo
- He's credited with writing the article about surfing that brought attention to it outside of Hawaii and made the sport boom in popularity
- He was one of the top war correspondents of the day
- At his peak, he was the most popular writer in America
- He died at the age of 40
- The FBI created a case file about him after his death due to how outspoken he'd been about socialism.
February 6, 2023
Being a massive Jack London fan, and having already read John Barleycorn, The Road and Martin Eden (that last being only semi-autobiographical, I know), there wasn’t much new that this biography provided.
It did give a bit more of an outside view, but the author didn’t give too much opinion (as is fitting for an impartial biographer) or all that much context. So there wasn’tmuch new here.
If you’ve never heard anything of Jack London’s crazy, manly life - adventures as a sailor, hobo, gold prospector, socialist activist, coal shoveler, oyster pirate, before he even became an author - his biography comes highly recommended, in whatever format you can find it.
But you may as well get it from the horse's mouth, and read some of London's own autobiographical writings instead. There's not much added or interpreted in this particular biography.
I must read Charmian’s biography as well, I think.
Would I re-read: no
It did give a bit more of an outside view, but the author didn’t give too much opinion (as is fitting for an impartial biographer) or all that much context. So there wasn’tmuch new here.
If you’ve never heard anything of Jack London’s crazy, manly life - adventures as a sailor, hobo, gold prospector, socialist activist, coal shoveler, oyster pirate, before he even became an author - his biography comes highly recommended, in whatever format you can find it.
But you may as well get it from the horse's mouth, and read some of London's own autobiographical writings instead. There's not much added or interpreted in this particular biography.
I must read Charmian’s biography as well, I think.
Would I re-read: no
January 29, 2022
This was an entertaining glimpse into Jack London, who led a wild rollercoaster of a life. I'd long believed common misconception that London experienced one failed year in the Yukon and then became a sedentary, miserable alcoholic writer for the rest of his days. Not so at all. He was born into a fatherless household to an emotionally absent mother, labored in awful working-class jobs from a young age, spent a short duration as an oyster pirate, then a coast-guard-type cop, traveled the world, lived in a bohemian commune, and more.
Despite being dealt a strong hand — London was handsome, well-liked, physically fit, talented, and ultimately successful and famous — it did seem he remained miserable for much of his life, owing to endless financial struggles, tumultuous love affairs, a number of personal tragedies, health struggles in his 30s, and what this author seems to speculate is an unrealized homosexual relationship with a cherished friend. London was a man of contradictions as well, agonizing over missed opportunities to start a family with his second wife while ignoring his daughters from his first marriage, pursuing an opulent lifestyle while championing socialism, etc. When London dies at age 40 of morphine overdose — long debated as a possible suicide — you have a sense that this man wasn't truly satisfied a day in his life. But this biography does succeed in revealing the fascinating character behind all of those compelling books you read in high school English class.
Despite being dealt a strong hand — London was handsome, well-liked, physically fit, talented, and ultimately successful and famous — it did seem he remained miserable for much of his life, owing to endless financial struggles, tumultuous love affairs, a number of personal tragedies, health struggles in his 30s, and what this author seems to speculate is an unrealized homosexual relationship with a cherished friend. London was a man of contradictions as well, agonizing over missed opportunities to start a family with his second wife while ignoring his daughters from his first marriage, pursuing an opulent lifestyle while championing socialism, etc. When London dies at age 40 of morphine overdose — long debated as a possible suicide — you have a sense that this man wasn't truly satisfied a day in his life. But this biography does succeed in revealing the fascinating character behind all of those compelling books you read in high school English class.
July 11, 2020
This seems to be a well researched book. I guess my 3 star rating has more to do with my unhappiness at seeing a brilliant person go down the tubes so quickly when it just didn't have to be. Jack London always will be one of my favorites.
February 24, 2013
In Jack London’s life as in many of the artists, actors and writers of today sometimes it better not to know about their personal life or their politics. Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Sean Penn, Jane Fonda among many others may be very successful entertainers in their chosen careers as artists but would do well to just keep their opinions to themselves. Not that they’re not entitled to their opinions they certainly are but for me personally I just want to be entertained not lectured to about their views on politics.
London was a hardened outspoken Socialist from an early age and you can forgive him for that because of the poverty he experienced in his early childhood. He was an illegitimate child, living in the poverty of Oakland, CA. His Mother and Step-Father failed at various businesses so at an early age London was required to work. At 11 years old he worked at a plant where he put pickles in a jar for canning starting at 6 am, working as many as 12 to 14 hours a day for 10 cents an hour with all of his earnings used to help his struggling family. He grew up in what was called, “The Gilded Age” where child labor laws and unions were not yet in existence.
He was a smart sensitive young boy who wanted nothing more than to educate himself and build a life and a career around his writing but felt obligated to work to support his family. Growing up in the environment in which he did I guess I don’t blame him for hating corporations and businesses that clearly had the upper hand over labor in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. But later in London’s life the hypocrisy became apparent and he became an ardent capitalist once he succeeded at making a living at his writing and later on his ranch near Glen Ellen, CA.
That said I admire his talent as a fiction writer. Call of the Wild is one of greatest pieces of American literature every written. White Fang and Sea Wolf are worthy books as well. Early in his writing career he wrote many other short stories and was hired as a journalist to write for newspapers and magazines. Many of the pieces he wrote effected social change and he also educated people about other parts of the world in his travels. In his early 20’s once he made the decision to become a writer he committed himself to write 1,000 words every day for the rest of his life and amazingly he achieved that goal. He labored for many years honing his writing ability and education so he could be skilled at his craft and history can’t deny he became an excellent example of what an overachiever can achieve with dogged persistence.
The worse parts of his personal life have been forgotten and his books have buried some of his many personal tragedies which he mainly brought on himself. His early speeches across the country touting Socialism nearly destroyed his career as a writer for one. He had a very severe drinking and smoking problem which in the end contributed to his early death. He suffered from bouts of depression and could be cruel to his 2nd wife Charmian. He had various affairs with women whom Charmian endured but she never left him. He supported his 2 children financially from his first marriage but had little to nothing to do with raising them, then later in his life couldn’t understand why he couldn’t connect with them. Though he never admitted publicly to it the evidence points to him having a lifelong homosexual love affair with a Bay Area poet named George Sterling.
It was interesting to learn of London’s early life and struggles to become a writer but once he achieves that goal the life he led after that is fairly checkered and not always honorable or honest. If you’re a great admirer of London and don’t want your image of him tarnished it might not be wise to read this book. I accept London for all his strengths and weakness because after all he was only human. So if he can capture our attention and imagination with his great stories then his life wasn’t lived in vain.
London was a hardened outspoken Socialist from an early age and you can forgive him for that because of the poverty he experienced in his early childhood. He was an illegitimate child, living in the poverty of Oakland, CA. His Mother and Step-Father failed at various businesses so at an early age London was required to work. At 11 years old he worked at a plant where he put pickles in a jar for canning starting at 6 am, working as many as 12 to 14 hours a day for 10 cents an hour with all of his earnings used to help his struggling family. He grew up in what was called, “The Gilded Age” where child labor laws and unions were not yet in existence.
He was a smart sensitive young boy who wanted nothing more than to educate himself and build a life and a career around his writing but felt obligated to work to support his family. Growing up in the environment in which he did I guess I don’t blame him for hating corporations and businesses that clearly had the upper hand over labor in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. But later in London’s life the hypocrisy became apparent and he became an ardent capitalist once he succeeded at making a living at his writing and later on his ranch near Glen Ellen, CA.
That said I admire his talent as a fiction writer. Call of the Wild is one of greatest pieces of American literature every written. White Fang and Sea Wolf are worthy books as well. Early in his writing career he wrote many other short stories and was hired as a journalist to write for newspapers and magazines. Many of the pieces he wrote effected social change and he also educated people about other parts of the world in his travels. In his early 20’s once he made the decision to become a writer he committed himself to write 1,000 words every day for the rest of his life and amazingly he achieved that goal. He labored for many years honing his writing ability and education so he could be skilled at his craft and history can’t deny he became an excellent example of what an overachiever can achieve with dogged persistence.
The worse parts of his personal life have been forgotten and his books have buried some of his many personal tragedies which he mainly brought on himself. His early speeches across the country touting Socialism nearly destroyed his career as a writer for one. He had a very severe drinking and smoking problem which in the end contributed to his early death. He suffered from bouts of depression and could be cruel to his 2nd wife Charmian. He had various affairs with women whom Charmian endured but she never left him. He supported his 2 children financially from his first marriage but had little to nothing to do with raising them, then later in his life couldn’t understand why he couldn’t connect with them. Though he never admitted publicly to it the evidence points to him having a lifelong homosexual love affair with a Bay Area poet named George Sterling.
It was interesting to learn of London’s early life and struggles to become a writer but once he achieves that goal the life he led after that is fairly checkered and not always honorable or honest. If you’re a great admirer of London and don’t want your image of him tarnished it might not be wise to read this book. I accept London for all his strengths and weakness because after all he was only human. So if he can capture our attention and imagination with his great stories then his life wasn’t lived in vain.
May 7, 2011
For a biography, this was a pretty good read. The book dealt a lot with London's socialist beliefs and quite a bit with his personal life. He was certainly a handsome, charismatic, possessed man who died far too young. The book does a good, speedy job with London's life before he became a writer, and it seems to deal fairly with many of the people that were major in his life: his mother, his stepfather, his stepsister, the Greek, Charmian, and Bessie. His hedonistic sojourns were hinted at but never covered in detail, so his declining health and death resulting from that lifestyle almost creep up on the reader. The end result, though, is amazement at how much living this man packed into so few years; he really did blaze through life. I am still reeling from the back breaking work of his early life and his determination to become a writer---but especially his persistence in writing 1000 words every day.
March 12, 2019
Wolf is a fascinating biography of the man behind the classics The Call of the Wild and White Fang. The book discusses Jack London's various adventures including as a sailor, war correspondent, hobo, and convict. We learn about his first failed marriage, his second wife and best friend who he referred to as "mate woman", as well as his lifetime penchant for casual trysts. All of his still-famous and many of his now-forgotten books are of course covered, with the contemporary happenings providing interesting context. Finally, the author emphasizes London's advocacy for socialism and highlights that many Americans during his life and after his passing found his politics difficult to accept. A worthwhile read!
November 1, 2019
Did not finish....plowed through to about the halfway point, couldn't read anymore. The author is absolutely obsessed with proving that London was a homosexual or bisexual despite NO evidence other than he had close male friends, once spent thirty days in jail and served briefly on a ship.
It'd be fine to suggest the possibility once....maybe twice, but he just keeps coming back to it over and over and over. London led an amazing life and any account of it should be fascinating. This is not.
The author has an agenda. His agenda has nothing to do with the story of Jack London and it infects his telling of that story. He's a fundamentally solid writer, but not an honest one.
It'd be fine to suggest the possibility once....maybe twice, but he just keeps coming back to it over and over and over. London led an amazing life and any account of it should be fascinating. This is not.
The author has an agenda. His agenda has nothing to do with the story of Jack London and it infects his telling of that story. He's a fundamentally solid writer, but not an honest one.
June 30, 2013
Having never read a biography of Jack London, this was a decent overview - from a high bird's eye. The author skims over various phases of London's life without delving deeply into them. So, while I got very nice sketches of phases of London's life, I never felt deeply engaged. The biggest issues I had with this book were occasional poor writing - unclear and ungrammatical - and a failure to quote London, his writings, his friends, or his family much. However, it whet my appetite for more readings about London's life!
April 24, 2017
Quite an engaging and engrossing biography of Jack London. Haley places a strong emphasis on London as a dedicated socialist and champion of social justice, aspects of London I knew nothing about and found very interesting. What impresses me most is how much living London did in his short life and his prolific work ethic.
August 16, 2014
I'm not big on biographies. Even biographies of people I admire easily bore me. But the level of overall analysis that went into learning the truth about Jack London makes this a fascinating read for me.
April 23, 2011
Wish that I had never learned the truth about his life. I liked him better when I didn't know the facts!
Read
February 22, 2011London only lived to be 40. It was difficult getting him started. He came from a harsh background and began to write in order to avoid being ground down and worked to death for 10 cents an hour.
April 17, 2013
Authors political bias bleeds throughout the book. Tainting what could be an interesting biography otherwise.
November 12, 2014
Biography is not my favorite genre, however I really enjoyed this audiobook and the narration was excellent. Jack London is a fascinating character and his life is full of surprises.
October 23, 2018
This is a wonderful book: A richly detailed story of a unique, robust and all-but-fearless individual who, in addition to being a perfectionist, it appears that he was also honest, industrious, gregarious, generous, confident, shrewd, daring and calculating.
The biography faithfully follows the chronology of Jack London’s life, a decidedly interesting life, and thoughtfully organizes it into broadly defined but distinct phases, or chapters, from his very early childhood, to his last two ailing years.
In this biography, James Haley presents a thorough and meticulous accounting which clearly conveys the full array of traits and characteristics possessed by Jack London that were instrumental in his vacillating notoriety,, fame and financial success. For those unfamiliar with his life, as I was before I read this book, Jack London’s real gift was for living, not for writing. But since he drew so heavily on his real –life experiences for his literary work, his fictional accounts have the unmistakable aura of authenticity, while his non-fiction is often regarded with unfortunate skepticism, even though that hardly bothered Mr. London.
Despite his early demise at the age of 37, it seems he possessed an unquenchable zest for life. Over coming incredible early disadvantages, like his birth into a life of abject poverty to an unwed mother who didn’t love him, and despite possessing no more than a rudimentary education at a time of incredible deprivation and hardship, Jack London lived an almost mythically vigorous and fulfilling life. The price of which was to succumb to a premature and accidental death due to illness.
As for this biography, it draws no conclusions, and the author appears to have no biases regarding London’s lifestyle or politics. In fact, this book was loaned to me by a relative, who has the habit of drawing lines through every sentence he’s read wit a felt- tipped colored marker. Despite receiving the book in such a compromised condition, the author’s life and the biography were so compelling that I could hardly put the book down until I was done. In fact, after finishing the book, I then proceeded to read every single footnote in the bibliography.
A final note:
This is a fascinating book, a wonderfully composed biography of a truly amazing man. Of great interest to me was the woman behind him, Charmian Kittredge London, who, in addition to being his wife, was also his editor, proofreader, secretary, typist, (100 words per minute) companion, and occasional boxing sparring partner. She was every bit his equal, and in some ways his superior by any standard conceivable.
I would like to read her biography as well.
The biography faithfully follows the chronology of Jack London’s life, a decidedly interesting life, and thoughtfully organizes it into broadly defined but distinct phases, or chapters, from his very early childhood, to his last two ailing years.
In this biography, James Haley presents a thorough and meticulous accounting which clearly conveys the full array of traits and characteristics possessed by Jack London that were instrumental in his vacillating notoriety,, fame and financial success. For those unfamiliar with his life, as I was before I read this book, Jack London’s real gift was for living, not for writing. But since he drew so heavily on his real –life experiences for his literary work, his fictional accounts have the unmistakable aura of authenticity, while his non-fiction is often regarded with unfortunate skepticism, even though that hardly bothered Mr. London.
Despite his early demise at the age of 37, it seems he possessed an unquenchable zest for life. Over coming incredible early disadvantages, like his birth into a life of abject poverty to an unwed mother who didn’t love him, and despite possessing no more than a rudimentary education at a time of incredible deprivation and hardship, Jack London lived an almost mythically vigorous and fulfilling life. The price of which was to succumb to a premature and accidental death due to illness.
As for this biography, it draws no conclusions, and the author appears to have no biases regarding London’s lifestyle or politics. In fact, this book was loaned to me by a relative, who has the habit of drawing lines through every sentence he’s read wit a felt- tipped colored marker. Despite receiving the book in such a compromised condition, the author’s life and the biography were so compelling that I could hardly put the book down until I was done. In fact, after finishing the book, I then proceeded to read every single footnote in the bibliography.
A final note:
This is a fascinating book, a wonderfully composed biography of a truly amazing man. Of great interest to me was the woman behind him, Charmian Kittredge London, who, in addition to being his wife, was also his editor, proofreader, secretary, typist, (100 words per minute) companion, and occasional boxing sparring partner. She was every bit his equal, and in some ways his superior by any standard conceivable.
I would like to read her biography as well.
October 29, 2021
Jack London was a socialist, front and center. It was as important to him as his writing career. Why do most people not know this? His socialism was downplayed by publishers because it affected book sales, and not in a good way. [Note: I'm not a socialist; I read this book to find out about a writer's life.]
I found it fascinating to know the details of his childhood that led him to embracing the socialist philosophy. He was forced, as an impoverished child, to start working at a very young age for only ten cents per hour. That led to many other types of work, but always if it was a factory job, the pay was ten cents per hour no matter how old he was. He felt employers took advantage of poverty stricken workers.
Aside from these poorly paid factory type jobs he worked as an oyster pirate on San Francisco Bay. Then he switched sides and worked for the government on a patrol boat arresting oyster pirates! Later in his teen years he became a hobo and traveled across the USA, meeting many other hobos that continued to visit him up until the last years of his life. Then he went to Alaska to look for gold.
By the time he was 20 he'd already packed a lot of life experiences into his memory and had plenty to write about. He approached writing as a career he worked hard at and managed to write much more that most people realize. His output was phenomenal and always based on a 1000-word daily writing habit.
His personal life was a mess. He got so much wrong. I was sorry he didn't do better mentally, emotionally, spiritually ... well, I have to leave something for you to discover by reading the book so I can't tell it all here. I was torn between being angry at Jack London and admiring his persistence in writing and his work ethic. There was a lot to admire and a lot to be sad about. He rose from a wharf rat young life to national respect and renown as America's most popular author of the time. Phenomenal!
As a person who has done a lot of writing myself, I learned a lot from this biography. It was well-written, well-researched, enlightening, and in my opinion, worth reading.
I found it fascinating to know the details of his childhood that led him to embracing the socialist philosophy. He was forced, as an impoverished child, to start working at a very young age for only ten cents per hour. That led to many other types of work, but always if it was a factory job, the pay was ten cents per hour no matter how old he was. He felt employers took advantage of poverty stricken workers.
Aside from these poorly paid factory type jobs he worked as an oyster pirate on San Francisco Bay. Then he switched sides and worked for the government on a patrol boat arresting oyster pirates! Later in his teen years he became a hobo and traveled across the USA, meeting many other hobos that continued to visit him up until the last years of his life. Then he went to Alaska to look for gold.
By the time he was 20 he'd already packed a lot of life experiences into his memory and had plenty to write about. He approached writing as a career he worked hard at and managed to write much more that most people realize. His output was phenomenal and always based on a 1000-word daily writing habit.
His personal life was a mess. He got so much wrong. I was sorry he didn't do better mentally, emotionally, spiritually ... well, I have to leave something for you to discover by reading the book so I can't tell it all here. I was torn between being angry at Jack London and admiring his persistence in writing and his work ethic. There was a lot to admire and a lot to be sad about. He rose from a wharf rat young life to national respect and renown as America's most popular author of the time. Phenomenal!
As a person who has done a lot of writing myself, I learned a lot from this biography. It was well-written, well-researched, enlightening, and in my opinion, worth reading.
August 16, 2022
This wonderful biography flows easily, is sometimes eloquent and never confusing. It offers an interesting and convincing account of the hardships and triumphs of Jack London's multi-faceted life.
London's character was full of contradictions, often generous, sometimes prickly, tolerant of an intolerable mother, cold to his first wife, ultimately indifferent to his daughters, often inconsiderate with Charmian, his second wife, whose trials were usually occasioned by his heavy drinking.
He was a lifelong socialist with at least one oddity: his Korean manservant was required to address him as Master and when, after years of faithful service, the man asked permission to address him as Mr. London, he was fired on the spot.
This demonstrates most clearly the fault-line in his character: on one side the damaged ego created by a threadbare childhood followed by years of poverty, degradation, and exploitation by the capitalist system; and on the opposite extreme, the yearning toward social justice that impelled him to write and preach his socialist message in and out of season, on the lecture circuit as well as in books and articles -- an insistence that in the end alienated many of his readers as well as his wealthy admirers.
So many failings as a man. So much achievement as a writer. So many contradictions in a life of mingled suffering, misery, success, wealth, and fame. This engrossing biography covers it all, from his stunning accomplishments to his sudden end, possibly by his own choice.
Jack London loved dogs. This virtue of virtues brought forth his wonderful but wrenching evocations of frontier life in Call of the Wild and White Fang, paeans to the tremendous spirit, nobility, and indomitability of the canine soul. For such testaments he will be forever honored.
London's character was full of contradictions, often generous, sometimes prickly, tolerant of an intolerable mother, cold to his first wife, ultimately indifferent to his daughters, often inconsiderate with Charmian, his second wife, whose trials were usually occasioned by his heavy drinking.
He was a lifelong socialist with at least one oddity: his Korean manservant was required to address him as Master and when, after years of faithful service, the man asked permission to address him as Mr. London, he was fired on the spot.
This demonstrates most clearly the fault-line in his character: on one side the damaged ego created by a threadbare childhood followed by years of poverty, degradation, and exploitation by the capitalist system; and on the opposite extreme, the yearning toward social justice that impelled him to write and preach his socialist message in and out of season, on the lecture circuit as well as in books and articles -- an insistence that in the end alienated many of his readers as well as his wealthy admirers.
So many failings as a man. So much achievement as a writer. So many contradictions in a life of mingled suffering, misery, success, wealth, and fame. This engrossing biography covers it all, from his stunning accomplishments to his sudden end, possibly by his own choice.
Jack London loved dogs. This virtue of virtues brought forth his wonderful but wrenching evocations of frontier life in Call of the Wild and White Fang, paeans to the tremendous spirit, nobility, and indomitability of the canine soul. For such testaments he will be forever honored.
June 1, 2020
This book must become a movie.
I was hesitant to read this, since I’ve not actually read any of London’s works. But as an iconic historical figure in American literature, and a book jacket that touted the wild life he led, I realized that I might not only enjoy the book but be moved to read his classics and have a deeper appreciation for them if I do.
All of that is true! I’ve only just finished so I can’t speak to how this biography will help me enjoy his fiction, but I know that it will. Wolf covers in enjoyable detail the ways London’s life experience informed his writing.
As to all the sections not directly connecting to his writing (well, he wrote 1,000 words every day across many topics so he really led a life completely intertwined with his writing), there’s just so much amazing detail. The book moves along at a nice pace, vividly building the world of the SF Bay area (and Alaska and the Yukon and the South Pacific and Buffalo and more) during the late 19th to early 20th century. The author is sympathetic to and reverent of the genius of London while laying his less-than-ideal words and deeds bare for us to understand.
What an amazing biopic film this book would be!
I was hesitant to read this, since I’ve not actually read any of London’s works. But as an iconic historical figure in American literature, and a book jacket that touted the wild life he led, I realized that I might not only enjoy the book but be moved to read his classics and have a deeper appreciation for them if I do.
All of that is true! I’ve only just finished so I can’t speak to how this biography will help me enjoy his fiction, but I know that it will. Wolf covers in enjoyable detail the ways London’s life experience informed his writing.
As to all the sections not directly connecting to his writing (well, he wrote 1,000 words every day across many topics so he really led a life completely intertwined with his writing), there’s just so much amazing detail. The book moves along at a nice pace, vividly building the world of the SF Bay area (and Alaska and the Yukon and the South Pacific and Buffalo and more) during the late 19th to early 20th century. The author is sympathetic to and reverent of the genius of London while laying his less-than-ideal words and deeds bare for us to understand.
What an amazing biopic film this book would be!
January 14, 2020
Ne visos biografijos būna sausos ir nuobodžios. Žinoma, didelę įtaką turi ne tik rašytojo magiškoji ranka, paguldanti žmogaus gyvenimą į žodžius, bet ir paties žmogaus asmenynė bei skaitytojų sąlytis su juo. Ši knyga patenka į šlapesnių ir nenuobodžių knygų sąrašą.
Aš esu "lengvai" Jack'o London'o fanas. Man patiko šios asmenybės mintys, jo gyvenimo istorija, susijusi su rašymu (bet čia nėra labai svarbu), tad gal kiek kitaip žiūrėjau į šią knygą, bet anyway..
Vienas iš pagrindinių kriterijų biografijoms - žmogaus vidinio pasaulio atskleidimas, nes parašyti "tas buvo tada ir tada" gan lengva (na bent jau lengviau, tai tikrai). Šioje knygoje tokių užuomazgų galima rasti. Taip, aš norėčiau dar daugiau jų, bet skaitant ją, Jack'o portetas nusipiešė. Taip, man pritrūko detalių apie jo blogybes, vidinę kovą (bet gali būti, kad trūko informacijos).
Knyga skaitosi lengvai, nėra ištempta ar nuobodi (kas kartais pasitako su tokio žanro knygomis).
Tad rekomenduoju Amerikos literūros mėgėjams, J. Londono knygų skaitytojams ir žinoma, biografijų fanams.
Aš esu "lengvai" Jack'o London'o fanas. Man patiko šios asmenybės mintys, jo gyvenimo istorija, susijusi su rašymu (bet čia nėra labai svarbu), tad gal kiek kitaip žiūrėjau į šią knygą, bet anyway..
Vienas iš pagrindinių kriterijų biografijoms - žmogaus vidinio pasaulio atskleidimas, nes parašyti "tas buvo tada ir tada" gan lengva (na bent jau lengviau, tai tikrai). Šioje knygoje tokių užuomazgų galima rasti. Taip, aš norėčiau dar daugiau jų, bet skaitant ją, Jack'o portetas nusipiešė. Taip, man pritrūko detalių apie jo blogybes, vidinę kovą (bet gali būti, kad trūko informacijos).
Knyga skaitosi lengvai, nėra ištempta ar nuobodi (kas kartais pasitako su tokio žanro knygomis).
Tad rekomenduoju Amerikos literūros mėgėjams, J. Londono knygų skaitytojams ir žinoma, biografijų fanams.
May 13, 2020
This is a very well researched biography of one of the most interesting characters to produce literature. He was born ,into poverty, his mother was hardly loving. He was put to work in factories as a child for long hours and poor wages, for cruel work circumstances. All to support his family. He became a hard drinking sailor during those formative years, took off to the Alaskan Yukon to make his fortune. Then returned to the sea to be almost killed in a typhoon. This was all before he began to write. He returned home to complete his education and become a writer. And he did. He was an ardent socialist and those unpopular views caused some problems with his popularity before and after death. His hard lifestyle and adventures into the Polynesian islands, with the resulting illnesses caught there, ultimately lead to chronic illness and disease, coupled with unbearable losses in life that ended his life very young. Fascinating tale of someone that jumped into life with both feet, did it all and then used it as a basis for some of the best literature we have. Recommended.
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