Showing results by author "Jack London" in All Categories

The greatest short story writers strive to achieve a single, dramatic effect, a feature which the early masters of this genre perfected. Although the short story came from Europe, it was reborn in America and reached a pinnacle of superb form on these shores by the turn of the 20th century. In so many of our best writers, we hear echoes of a pioneer ethos that sustains the heart of a great literature. Here are 12 of America's best.

A man treks through the frigid Yukon with his dog. When night falls, the temperature drops to negative 75, and they struggle to keep warm.

The Star Rover is a 1914 collection of science fiction short stories with the theme of reincarnation. It tells the story of Darrell Standing, an inmate of San Quentin’s death row. The narrator escapes the horror of prison life by withdrawing into altered states and the memory of past lives. Forming the body of the work, the accounts of these past lives are vivid but disconnected. They include a desert island survival story, one which involves a Roman perspective on Christ, a tale of medieval Korea, and one which takes place in a prehistoric era.

Americans have vivid, colourful and mesmerising imaginations. On the flip side they are equally adept at Realism. In this volume their famed authors explore short stories that bring us up close and personal to reality.

From tales of humans and animals forced to violence and primitivism, to stories of chaos and civilizational collapse, this elegant collection gathers Jack London’s most famous and influential works for a modern audience. Reflecting the eloquent prose and gripping themes first written over a century ago, these stories speak to universal ideas and truths which have captivated the minds of fans for generations.

John Barleycorn is a novel about the enjoyment of drinking and the struggles of alcoholism.

In this timeless classic, Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life gets turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Alaskan Yukon in the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail-delivery dog sled team, Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime as he ultimately finds his true place in the world.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In this volume the Mad Scientist takes centre stage. Naturally the stories come in all shapes and sizes and in the pens of our classic authors the scientists more usually arrive as dark, twisted and evil as they go about their work illuminating humanity as only a mad scientist can.

Jack London's masterpiece, tells the gripping tale of a dog named Buck who is wrenched out of his life of ease and luxury to become a sled dog in Alaska. Drawing on his wolf heritage, Buck must fight for survival in an alien environment.

An anthology of chilling, classic horror stories, including "The Tale-Tell Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum", and "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe; "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving; "The Hand", "Was it a Dream?", and "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant; "The Red Room" by H.G. Wells; "Moon-Face" by Jack London; "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Pubblicato nel 1909, "Martin Eden", grande classico della letteratura americana, è considerato il miglior romanzo di Jack London (San Francisco, 1876 - Glen Ellen, 1916). La trama, fortemente autobiografica, si sviluppa intorno alla figura del giovane Martin, un marinaio di Oackland che, per un caso fortuito, si trova a salvare da una rissa il fratello di Ruth Morse, una ragazza dell'alta borghesia di San Francisco che per Martin diventerà un'autentica ossessione amorosa.

This audiobook is a collection of stories by Jack London featuring the fictional characters of Christopher "Smoke" Bellew and his partner Shorty as they share adventures in the Yukon during the gold rush of the late 1880s. Jack London published this collection in 1912. London's main character, Smoke, is widely considered to be somewhat autobiographical in nature, perhaps an idealized version of how Jack London envisioned his own real-life exploits when he traveled to the Yukon at the height of the gold rush in 1897.

The phrase 'this book will change your life' has become one of the clichés of the publishing world, but Martin Eden is certainly a novel that merits that observation. Set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, Jack London's semiautobiographical narrative tells of working class sailor Eden's struggle to elevate himself to a level of society wherein, he believes, reside the intellect and culture he craves. One of the reasons for this endeavour is Ruth Morse, with whom he has fallen in love.

Jack London lived for a time within the grim and grimy world of the East End of London, where half a million people scraped together hardly enough on which to survive. Even if they were able to work, they were paid only enough to allow them a pitiful existence. He grew to know and empathise with these forgotten (or ignored) people as he spoke with them and tasted the workhouse, life on the streets, ... and the food, which was cheap, barely nutritious, and foul.

This inspiring anthology collects enduring and entertaining stories that have enthralled young and old, by the cherished authors whose tales have captivated children for generations. Perfect for the family car trip or at-home listening, these recordings sparkle with the wit and wonder of time-tested storytelling.

In Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, strong sled dogs were in high demand. Buck is stolen from his comfortable home in California and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. Sold to a group of inexperienced gold hunters, he is eventually saved by John Thornton, with whom he forms a deep bond.

The Call of the Wild is a novel by American author Jack London published in 1903. The story takes place in the extreme conditions of the Yukon during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush, where strong sled dogs were in high demand. After Buck, a domesticated dog, is snatched from a pastoral ranch in California, he is sold into a brutal life as a sled dog. The novella details Buck's struggle to adjust and survive the cruel treatment he receives from humans, other dogs, and nature. He eventually sheds the veneer of civilization altogether and instead relies on primordial instincts.

Presented by actor/author Geoffrey Giuliano, here is an exciting "listen while you learn" audio production which promises to entertain, enlighten, and enliven the listener. Icon productions offer a daring, fresh perspective on the hundreds of perennial favorite tales which have inspired generations and imbued a deep love of literature and art in millions over time.

Buck is living the good life in the soft South, when he is snatched and transported to the savagery of the Northland. There, the Klondike gold rush has brought out rough basic instincts of survival in men - and dogs. He adjusts to the gruelling regime of a sled dog, which almost kills him, but he survives to find a new and fulfilling way of life. The Call of the Wild is not only a classic tale, but also an enduring masterpiece of the inescapable laws of nature. Now in unabridged form in a new reading by William Roberts

More of the Greatest Mysteries of All Time is the second in a series featuring the finest short story mystery fiction by the most acclaimed writers, past and present. From Thomas Hardy, O. Henry, Jack London, Vincent Starrett and everyone in between, this unique collection, edited by multi-award winning mystery connoisseur Otto Penzler, is a delightful mixture of mystery and suspense.