THE UNABRIDGED JACK LONDON is a comprehensive collection of Jack London's sprawling, timeless fiction. Included here, in addition to his classic novels and short story collections, is a group of "uncollected" short stories, some of which have never appeared in book form. We have sought, wherever possible, to use only first editions of London's work - the only way, we feel, to convey the truly original spirit of London's boundless imagination, his insight into humankind's passion for adventure, and his gripping life view. Three novels...and 54 short stories, some of them never available in book form, that exemplify two sides of Jack London (1876-1916): the quiet, contemplative writer of San Francisco and the bruising, lusty adventurer of the Yukon and the Pacific. - THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Cover Illustration: Gill Cohen
Author
John Griffith Chaney (1876-1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction. His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories, "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay", and "The Heathen". London was part of the radical literary group, "The Crowd," in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, workers' rights, and socialism. He wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel, The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam. London died November 22, 1916, in a sleeping porch in a cottage on his ranch. London's ashes were buried on his property, not far from the Wolf House. The grave is marked by a mossy boulder. The buildings and property were later preserved as Jack London State Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, California.
