Jack London's Golden State: Selected California Writing

For nearly a century, Jack London has been an international icon, more widely read and translated than any other American author. First and foremost, however, he has always been a Californian, the first major writer to use the Golden State as his base. Even his famed Alaskan novels are solidly rooted in California.

        In this exciting and original anthology, editor Gerald Haslam has selected from the best of London's writings, including Valley of the Moon, John Barleycorn, Martin Eden, The Sea Wolf, Star Rover, The Iron Heel, and other classic works, along with essays, short stories and journalism. Together, these writings display the supreme skillfulness of London's prose, his political and social passions, his unsurpassed ability to render emotional states and physical landscapes. For those who may not have read London in recent years, this anthology offers an opportunity to rediscover a truly great writer.

        Jack London's Golden State also allows readers to discover California. Many of the themes covered by London a century ago are amazingly fresh and relevant today: urban poverty and decay, the call of the countryside, the arrival of recent immigrants, environmental degradation, the existence of youth gangs and the homeless, the chronic wanderlust and restlessness of Californians, the mixture of defeat and opportunity that still marks California life.

This outstanding anthology presents to readers old and young alike a great writer in all his power, beauty, tenderness, and -- yes, after nearly a century -- all his remarkable relevance.