John Barleycorn

Jack London cut a mythic figure across the American landscape of the early twentieth century. But throughout his colorful life-from his teenage years as an oyster pirate to his various incarnations as a well-traveled seaman, Yukon gold prospector, waterfront brawler, unemployed vagrant, impassioned socialist, and celebrated writer-he retained a predilection for drinking on a prodigious scale. London's classic -alcoholic memoirs--the closest thing to an autobiography he ever wrote-are a startlingly honest and vivid account of his life not only as a drinker, but also as a storied adventurer. Richly anecdotal and beautifully written, John Barleycorn stands as the earliest intelligent treatment of alcohol in American literature, and as an intensely moving document of one of America's finest writers. This Modern Library Paperback Classic includes illustrations from the original edition.

Author: Jack London
Publisher: Penguin Random House LLC (No Starch)
Published: 09/11/2001
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.30w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780375757921

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 8.2
Point Value: 12
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 58701 / John Barleycorn

About the Author
Pete Hamill is the author of A Drinking Life and Piecework, among other books. He lives in New York.