Jack London

A road novel fifty years before Kerouac, The Valley of the Moon traces the odyssey of Billy and Saxon Roberts from the labor strife of Oakland at the turn of the century through Central and Northern California in search of land they can farm independently—a journey that echoes Jack London's own escape from urban poverty. As London lost hope in the prospects of the socialist party and organized labor, he began researching a scientific and environmentally sound approach to farming. In his novel, it is Saxon, London's most fully realized heroine, who embodies these concerns. The Valley of the Moon is London's paean to his second wife Charmian and to the pastoral life and his ranch in Glen Ellen, the Valley of the Moon.

In 1902, Jack London purchased some secondhand clothes, rented a room in the East End, and set out to discover how the London poor lived. His research makes shocking reading. Moving through the slums as one of the poor; eating, drinking, and socializing with the underclass; lining up to get into a flophouse, London was scandalized and brutalized by the experience of living rough in Britain's capital. His clear-eyed reflections on the iniquities of class are a shaming testament to the persistence of social inequality in modern times.

The Iron Heel is a dystopian novel by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908. Anthony Meredith, a scholar in about the year 2600 AD (or 419 B.O.M. - the Brotherhood of Man), annotates the "Everhard Manuscript", an account that chronicles the years from 1912 to 1932 when the great "Iron Heel" oligarchy rose to power in the United States.

Darrell Standing, a university professor serving life imprisonment in San Quentin for murder, defies the will of prison officials who try to break his spirit with "the jacket," a canvas jacket which can be tightly laced so as to tortuously compress the whole body. To survive, Standing discovers how to enter a trance state in which he walks among the stars and experiences past lives.

The Call of the Wild is a novel by Jack London published in 1903. The story is set in the Yukon during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush—a period in which strong sled dogs were in high demand. The novel's central character is a dog named Buck, a domesticated dog living at a ranch in the Santa Clara Valley of California as the story opens. Stolen from his home and sold into service as sled dog in Alaska, he reverts to a wild state. Buck is forced to fight in order to dominate other dogs in a harsh climate. Eventually he sheds the veneer of civilization, relying on primordial instincts and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.

The semiautobiographical Martin Eden is the most vital and original character Jack London ever created. Set in San Francisco, this is the story of Martin Eden, an impoverished seaman who pursues, obsessively and aggressively, dreams of education and literary fame. London, dissatisfied with the rewards of his own success, intended Martin Eden as an attack on individualism and a criticism of ambition; however, much of its status as a classic has been conferred by admirers of its ambitious protagonist. Andrew Sinclair's wide-ranging introduction discusses the conflict between London's support of socialism and his powerful self-will. Sinclair also explores the parallels and divergences between the life of Martin Eden and that of his creator, focusing on London's mental depressions and how they affected his depiction of Eden.

Jack London made a specialty of books about marvelous dogs. Jerry of the Islands tells the story of an Irish Terrier, a dog from the Southern seas, rather than the cold North. Jerry's life is colored by his experiences in the rough -- and sadly, racist -- land of Melanesia. First published in 1915, "Jerry of the Islands" tells the story of Jerry's narrow world, in which the dog has been born and raised to carry out the racist aims of his master, and his travels after that time...

John Barleycorn is an autobiographical novel by Jack London dealing with his enjoyment of drinking and struggles with alcoholism. It was published in 1913. The title is taken from the British folksong "John Barleycorn".

BURNING DAYLIGHT begins as many of London's finest works begin: with the depiction of a man blessed with physical prowess and keen perception who takes on the natural forces of the 19th century Yukon. Supreme gold miner, risk-all gambler, and unbeatable fighter, Burning Daylight is his name. Daylight moves from the Yukon to San Francisco, and plays "the bigger game of finance and wealth," until he is reminded of something he lost, something pure and good. And with this discovery, London turns his standard format into the finest love story he ever crafted and BURNING DAYLIGHT becomes much more than a simple adventure.

In Jack London's 1910 story Before Adam a young boy dreams that he is living the life of an early hominid, giving human evolution an early and entertaining portrayal. The hominid he dreams through is one of the Cave People and the story tells us also of the Fire People, the Tree People, the hominid's love interest and a sabre-cat.

The novel explores the themes of domination of one people over the others, the differences between races, emancipation of women, and the strength of the human spirit, strengthened in a struggle with the nature and society.

A road novel fifty years before Kerouac, The Valley of the Moon traces the odyssey of Billy and Saxon Roberts from the labor strife of Oakland at the turn of the century through Central and Northern California in search of land they can farm independently—a journey that echoes Jack London's own escape from urban poverty. As London lost hope in the prospects of the socialist party and organized labor, he began researching a scientific and environmentally sound approach to farming. In his novel, it is Saxon, London's most fully realized heroine, who embodies these concerns. The Valley of the Moon is London's paean to his second wife Charmian and to the pastoral life and his ranch in Glen Ellen, the Valley of the Moon.

Melmoth the Wanderer is an 1820 Gothic novel by Irish playwright, novelist and clergyman Charles Maturin. The novel's title character is a scholar who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for 150 extra years of life, and searches the world for someone who will take over the pact for him, in a manner reminiscent of the Wandering Jew.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

The Modern Library recently placed Sons and Lovers ninth on their list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. The autobiographical novel tells the story of Paul Morel, sensitive and talented son of an English coal miner in Nottinghamshire. His mother, Gertrude, the educated daughter of Puritanical middle-class parents, has married the miner in the heat of physical attraction. The marriage soon disintegrates; Walter Morel takes to drink and beats his wife and children, and Mrs. Morel pours all her possessive love upon her sons, especially Paul. The novel is concerned with Paul's painful introduction to the commercial world, his discovery of books and art, his growing discontent with his background of poverty and gloom, and his developing talent for painting. It records his lover affairs with Miriam and with Clara Dawes. Because of the strong bond of love between him and his mother, he is never able to give his affection wholly to either of the women. Sons and Lovers, which was attacked on its publication because of its frankness in dealing with sexual matters, is more naturalistic than Lawrence's later work. It is remarkable for its portrayal of English mining life, its vivid characterizations, and its poetic descriptions of nature.

When a traveller in north central Massachusetts takes the wrong fork at the junction of Aylesbury pike just beyond Dean’s Corners he comes upon a lonely and curious country. The ground gets higher, and the brier-bordered stone walls press closer and closer against the ruts of the dusty, curving road. The trees of the frequent forest belts seem too large, and the wild weeds, brambles and grasses attain a luxuriance not often found in settled regions. At the same time the planted fields appear singularly few and barren; while the sparsely scattered houses wear a surprisingly uniform aspect of age, squalor, and dilapidation.

Daphne is 'well-born, elegant, beautiful, and not especially bright'. In this, Yates' earliest collection of stories, we meet the Pleydell clan and encounter their high-spirited comic adventures. It is a world of Edwardian gentility and accomplished farce that brought the author instant fame when the stories appeared in 'Windsor Magazine'.

Regarded as the first gothic horror novel ever written, The Castle of Otranto is a dark, thrilling tale, delightfully shocking for its time and hugely influential. A fantastic, provocative and playful tale of medieval dynastic and sexual politics, The Castle of Otranto is regarded as the first ever published gothic novel and has inspired authors from Edgar Allan Poe to J.K. Rowling. Abounding with unfulfilled prophecies, supernatural occurrences, adventure, suspense and destiny it follows the fortunes of the royal family of Sicily in the thirteenth century. Prince Conrad is crushed to death on the day of his wedding to the beautiful Princess Isabella. Heirless – and terrified of an ancient prophecy that foretells the downfall of his dynasty – his father, King Manfred, divorces his wife and resolves to marry the princess himself. Far from enamoured with her new fiancé, Isabella flees the royal castle and makes for the sanctuary of a nearby church with the help of the humble Theodore. When the pair is captured their respective fates seem inescapable; but at the moment of Theodore's death, delivery comes from the most unexpected of places.

The loud speaker whined through laboratories, permeated kitchens, rasped in corridors. In the service corridor of Medicine Clinic the orderly rolling the laundry bin halted to listen and expectorate. Four floors above, Cub Sterling pulled in his long stride and reached for a nurse’s desk ’phone. His voice pushed through the mouthpiece and almost immediately severed the monotonous breathing of the loud speaker.

Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960) was an English novelist, poet, and dramatist. He was the author of many novels, plays and poems about Dartmoor. He was for many years the President of the Dartmoor Preservation Association and cared passionately about the conservation of Dartmoor. He also wrote a series of novels each set against the background of a different trade or industry. Although mainly a novelist, he also wrote several plays, the most famous being Yellow Sands. Late in his long writing career he wrote a few books of interest to science fiction readers. Amongst his other works are Lying Prophets (1896), Children of the Mist (1898), The Spinners (1918), The Grey Room (1921), The Red Redmaynes (1922) and The Torch and Other Tales (1929).

"When you sell a man a book," says Roger Mifflin, protagonist of these classic bookselling novels, "you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue you sell him a whole new life." The new life the itinerant bookman delivers to Helen McGill, the narrator of Parnassus on Wheels, provides the romantic comedy that drives the novel. Published in 1917, Morley's first love letter to the traffic in books remains a transporting entertainment. Its sequel, The Haunted Bookshop, finds Mifflin and McGill, now married, ensconced in Brooklyn. The novel's rollicking plot provides ample doses of diversion, while allowing more room for Mifflin (and Morley) to expound on the intricacy of the bookseller's art. Introduction by James Mustich, Jr.