Jack London: Stories for all Seasons. Introduction and Notes by Earle Labor.

Alfred Kazin’s famous remark that “the greatest story Jack London ever wrote was the story he lived” has been quoted by biographers and critics for more than a generation. London’s extraordinary rags-to-riches story was indeed grist for the mill of myth and legend. More than a personification of the American Dream, it was a fabulous tale that made his danger-laden exploits front-page headlines.

Born into near-poverty, London spent some of the best years of his boyhood as a factory “work beast.” By the age of twenty-one, he had been a gang member, able-bodied seaman, hobo, convict, political activist, and Klondike Argonaut. By thirty-one, he had won international celebrity as an author, war correspondent, and social crusader. By the time of his death at forty, he had adventured half-way around the globe, established one of the most beautiful ranches in America, and written more than fifty books.

His spectacular career has often obscured “the greatest story” Jack London wrote. That accolade belongs more fairly to The Call of the Wild—a world classic reprinted in countless editions for more than a century. As that novel and the accompanying five selections in this volume make clear, London was a creative genius who transmuted his memorable personal experiences from dross reality into the pure gold of great literary art.

Earle Labor, Emeritus Professor of American Literature, is widely recognized as the major authority on Jack London. He and Emeritus President Donald A. Webb are co-founders of Centenary’s Jack London Museum.

ISBN: 978-1-7320925-3-2