John Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and 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.
London in 1903
London at the age of nine with his dog Rollo, 1885
Jack London studying at Heinold's First and Last Chance in 1886
Heinold's First and Last Chance, "Jack London's Rendezvous"
The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively more primitive and wild in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.
First edition cover
Miners carry gear up the Chilkoot Pass to reach the Klondike
Buck proves himself as leader of the pack when he fights Spitz "to the death".
The Call of the Wild (cover of the June 20, 1903 Saturday Evening Post shown) is about the survival of the fittest.