London, Jack (1876-916)
In his writing as in his highly publicized personal life, Jack London provided an overture for the complexities of Americansociety in the early years of the twentieth century. Despite a professional career of less than 20 years, London wrote over 50 novels, 200 short stories, and an additional 400 pieces of non-fictional prose. His various adventures as a South Seas sailor, Socialist politician, Alaskan argonaut, Asian war correspondent, California farmer, and general hobo at large, exemplified the wanderlust which characterized both America's roots and its future. Although London's persona invites a comparison with Theodore Roosevelt's philosophy of the strenuous life or Frederick Jackson Turner's vision of frontier regeneration, he reveled in ambiguities beyond the scope of his contemporaries.
London was born in San Francisco, the illegitimate child of Flora Wellman. Before his first birthday, his mother had married John London, a widower with two daughters. The resulting family was plagued by hardship; the specter of poverty would prove to be the strongest feature of London's childhood. The family frequently moved throughout the Bay area, and Jack entered the working world at age nine. Such a life fostered self-reliance and independence, virtues that later became prominent themes in London's writing.
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