LONDON, Jack (1876-1916)

LONDON, Jack (1876-1916).

The novelist and short-story writer Jack London was, in his lifetime, one of the most popular authors in the world. After World War I his fame was eclipsed in the United States by a new generation of writers, but he remained popular in many other countries, especially in the Soviet Union, for his romantic tales of adventure mixed with elemental struggles for survival.

John Griffith London was born in San Francisco on Jan. 12, 1876. His ffamily was poor, and he was forced to go to work early in life to support himself. At 17 he sailed to Japan and Siberia on a seal-hunting voyage. He was largely self-taught, reading voluminously in libraries and spending a year at the University of California. In the late 1890s he joined the gold rush to the Klondike. This experience gave him material for his first book, _The Son of Wolf published in 1900, and for _Call of the Wild_ ((1903), one of his most popular stories.

In his writing career of 17 years, London produced 50 books and many short stories. He wrote mostly for money, to meet ever-increasing expenses. His fame as a writer gave him a ready aaudience as a spokesman for a peculiar and inconsistent blend of socialism and racial superiority.

London_s works, all hastily written, are of uneven quality. The best books are the Klondike tales, which also include _White Fang_ (1906) and _Burning Daylight_ (1910). His most enduring novel is probably the autobiographical _Martin Eden_ (1909), but the exciting _Sea Wolf_ (1904) continues to have great appeal for young readers.

In 1910 London settled near ...