Read about another entry on the list.Jack London (The Call of the Wild, White Fang)
The Call of the Wild author spent a lot of time in the rugged outdoors. He started working at a cannery at 13 and within a few short years had been employed as an oyster thief in the San Francisco Bay, sailed on a schooner to Japan, and worked in a mill and a power plant—all before traveling to the Yukon for the Klondike Gold Rush, which provided the inspiration for The Call of the Wild and White Fang. London’s arrest for vagrancy, while participating in a protest march in 1932, also came before his literary success, and was at least partially responsible for his turn to scholastic and literary pursuits. London described the “horrors” of being locked up in the Erie County Pen for thirty days as “unprintable” and “unthinkable” in The Road. In 2002, the creator of the TV series Oz adapted The Road for the New York stage.
The Call of the Wild is among Joshua Glenn's top 32 list of adventure novels of the 19th century, Sarah Lean's top ten animal stories, Ben Frederick's eleven essential books for dog lovers, Megan Miranda's top ten books set in a wintry landscape, Jill Hucklesby's top 10 books about running away, Charlie English's top ten snow books, and Thomas Bloor's top ten tales of metamorphosis. It appears on John Mullan's list of ten of the best wolves in literature and Alice-Azania Jarvis's reading list on dogs.
White Fang is among Amy Wilkinson's top seven books with "white" in the title, Emma Barnes's top ten books with wolves, and Marcus Sedgwick's top ten books from cold climes.
--Marshal Zeringue
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