Jack London: A Life

Jack London's life was as dramatic as any of the stories he created. Raised in poverty as an illegitimate child, he dropped out of school to support his mother, working in mind-deadening jobs that would foster a lifelong interest in socialism. Brilliant and self-taught, he haunted California's waterside bars, brawling with drunken sailors and learning about love from prostitutes. His lust for adventure took him from the beaches of Hawaii to the gold fields of Alaska, where he experienced firsthand the struggles for survival he would later immortalize in classics like White Fang and The Call of the Wild. A hard-drinking womanizer with children to support, Jack London was no stranger to passion when he met and married Charmian Kittredge, the love of his life. She typed his manuscripts while he churned out novels, serving as his inspiration and his critic. This is the rare biography that proves the truth can be more fascinating - and a far greater adventure - than fiction.