The Call of the Wild

Jack London

Jan 1980 · Spotify Audiobooks · Narrated by Michael Kramer

About this audiobook

Buck, a huge four-year-old Scottish Shepherd-Saint Bernard cross-breed, lived a life of ease at Judge Miller's Santa Clara Valley estate. This is the story of Buck and how he was thrust into the life of a sled-dog in the savage Klondike during the Gold Rush, and how he ran with the wolves.

Jack London, born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876, is well known for his stories involving men and animals and their struggles in the environment. Being an illegitimate child, he adopted his stepfather's surname. London had an adventurous life which included being an oyster pirate, a laundromat worker, a seaman and a participating in the 1897-98 Alaskan Gold Rush. His personal life adventures, idealism and belief that the fittest should survive inspired much of his writing. He wrote 50 books in 20 years, the most widely acclaimed being the story of the dog Buck in The Call of the Wild. London died at the age of 40 on November 22, 1916. He was the most successful and best-known writer in America in the first decade of the 20th century.

Michael Kramer has narrated hundreds of audiobooks and received numerous awards including AudioFile magazine's Earphone Award.

About the author

One of the pioneers of 20th century American literature, Jack London specialized in tales of adventure inspired by his own experiences. London was born in San Francisco in 1876. At 14, he quit school and became an "oyster pirate," robbing oyster beds to sell his booty to the bars and restaurants in Oakland. Later, he turned on his pirate associates and joined the local Fish Patrol, resulting in some hair-raising waterfront battles. Other youthful activities included sailing on a seal-hunting ship, traveling the United States as a railroad tramp, a jail term for vagrancy and a hazardous winter in the Klondike during the 1897 gold rush. Those experiences converted him to socialism, as he educated himself through prolific reading and began to write fiction. After a struggling apprenticeship, London hit literary paydirt by combining memories of his adventures with Darwinian and Spencerian evolutionary theory, the Nietzchean concept of the "superman" and a Kipling-influenced narrative style. "The Son of the Wolf"(1900) was his first popular success, followed by 'The Call of the Wild" (1903), "The Sea-Wolf" (1904) and "White Fang" (1906). He also wrote nonfiction, including reportage of the Russo-Japanese War and Mexican revolution, as well as "The Cruise of the Snark" (1911), an account of an eventful South Pacific sea voyage with his wife, Charmian, and a rather motley crew. London's body broke down prematurely from his rugged lifestyle and hard drinking, and he died of uremic poisoning - possibly helped along by a morphine overdose - at his California ranch in 1916. Though his massive output is uneven, his best works - particularly "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" - have endured because of their rich subject matter and vigorous prose.