A revelatory look at the life of the great American author—and how it shaped his most beloved works Jack London was born a working class, fatherless Californi

"The first authorized biography of a great American novelist"--

Raised in poverty as an illegitimate child, Jack London dropped out of school to support his mother, working in mind-deadening jobs that would foster a lifelong

Born a working-class, fatherless Californian in 1876, Jack London spent his youth as a boundlessly energetic adventurer on the bustling West Coast; by adulthood

Jack London was one of the first writers to earn a living in part from his writings in commercial fiction magazines. London's writings reflect the change in his