#1. The Call of the Wild

by

Jack London

London’s Childhood

#2. Born in 1876 in San Francisco

#2. Became one of America’s most famous writers

• #3. Childhood marked by poverty and unhappiness

• #3. Raised by his mother and stepfather; uncertainty about his father who deserted them

• #3. However, became an avid reader when an Oakland librarian encouraged him to escape his life of poverty through reading

London’s Childhood

London dropped out of school at age 14 and held many low-paying jobs:

seamanpaperboy

sweatshop workercannery worker freight train hobocleaned a local saloon

London loved to hear stories about the Gold Rush

#4. As a Young Person

#5. As a Young Adult

•Experiences that shaped London’s life and attitudes:

-oyster pirate -seal hunter in the North Pacific -1894—arrested and jailed for vagrancy

However, he attended the University of California at Berkeley

Left school after 1 year to seek his fortune

#6. Gold Rush Adventure• Traveled to Klondike Gold Rush

in 1897• Came down with scurvy; his

severely swollen gums caused him to lose his four front teeth

• Did not find gold; had a wealth of experiences he would later use to write stories and books

• Supported himself by writing books and stories

Jack London outfitted to travel to the gold fields of the Klondike Gold Rush

#7. London—the Author• Began avidly writing in 1897• Spent 15 hours a day writing• Wrote 1000 words a day• One of the 1st American

authors to make a living exclusively as a writer

Jack London wrote 50 books and 1,000 articles between 1899 and 1916.

“By 1916, London was the highest-paid writer in the

country and the most widely read American author in the

world.”

Jack London had a personal library of over 15,000 books!

#8 Jack London died on November 22, 1916.

•He was only 40 years old.

#9 London’s Credo

Credo = principles or beliefs that guide a person through life

Jack London's Credo

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out     in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.…The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

#10 Title: The Call of the WildGenre: Realistic FictionSetting: Late 1800’s

#11. London was paid three cents per word

for the story.

London received a total of $2,750.00 for

his work.

#12 The book has never been out of print during the last seventy-five years

“The Call of the Wild is the greatest dog story ever written and is at the same time a study of one of the most curious and profound motives that play hide-and-seek in the human soul.”-- Carl Sandburg

From the time The Call of the Wild caught the imagination of the world in 1903, until his death by a stroke and heart attack in 1916, his 51 books, hundreds of short stories, essays and other writings had more newspaper coverage than any other writer.