The Call of the Wild

Buck, a big, happy dog, is kidnapped from his comfortable home in California and is sold as a sled dog in the cold Yukon Territory during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896. His new life in the Northland is difficult, challenging, adventurous... and full of surprises!

Jack London was born in San Francisco, California, in 1876. He grew up in the poor part of Oakland, a city near San Francisco. As a child, books were his only companions. He always went to the Oakland Public Library and read as many books as possible! The librarian Ina Coolbirth became his great friend and teacher. Some of his favorite authors were Melville, Kipling and Balzac.

Jack London finished school at the age of fourteen. His family was poor and he could not go to high school. Jack went to work at Hickmott's Factory. He worked long hours and was paid very little money. He dreamed of adventure, travel and excitement. He wanted to see the world. Factory life was not for him. He began drinking as a teenager and this became a serious problem later on.

At the age of seventeen he decided to see the world. He became a sailor on a schooner and sailed to the North Pacific Ocean to hunt seals. Ten years later he wrote about his terrible experiences at sea in the book "The Sea Wolf". After almost eight months at sea he returned home but could not find work. He decided to visit other parts of his country.

He began traveling across the United States and reached New York. Here he went prison for thirty days for vagrancy.

In 1894 he returned to his home in Oakland. He had no money and no work. At the age of nineteen Jack London decided to return to high school. He knew that a good education was the key to a better life. He wanted to learn as much as possible about everything! He went to high school in the day and worked at night and on weekends.

Jack wanted to improve himself and read a great number of books on all subjects. He made new friends and began speaking better English, listening to beautiful music and appreciating art. He also began writing his first stories and poems.

In 1896 gold was discovered in the Klondike Region in northwest Canada. Jack was excited about this news. He wanted new adventures, and he hoped to find gold and become rich.

He and some friends went to the Klondike. In Canada they built a small boat and traveled up the Yukon River. The Arctic weather and the difficult living conditions made him very ill. He left the Klondike with no gold but with many ideas for his best stories.
"The Call of the Wild" (1903) tells us about the adventures of a great dog during the Klondike gold rush. It was immediately successful and became a classic. With this book Jack London became a major American writer with a very original style.

In 1906 he wrote another exciting dog story called "White Fang". In 1913 Jack London was a rich and famous writer. People all over the world read his books. Some of his other books are Martin Eden, "The Sea Wolf", "Tales of the Fish Patrol", and "The Son of the Wolf".

Jack married twice and had two children. Unfortunately, he had big financial problems because he spent all of his money on his friends, on drinking and on his beautiful new home. During the last years of his life he had serious health problems. He died on November 22, 1916, after an intense and adventurous life.

The Note on the Author



Chapter One - The Southland

Chapter Two - The Northland

Chapter Three - The Law of Club and Fang



The Klondike Gold Rush

Chapter Four - The Attack

Chapter Five - The Big Fight

Chapter Six - The New Lead-Dog

Chapter Seven - For the Love of a Man



Wolves

Chapter Eight - The Winner

Chapter Nine - The Call of the Wild