When God Laughs and Other Stories

Jack London

2006년 1월 · Cosimo, Inc.

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Young lovers were pale and anaemic beside that long-married pair. To see them, all fire and flame and tenderness, at a trembling distance, lavishing caresses of eye and voice with every action, through every silence-their love driving them toward each other, and they withholding like fluttering moths, each to the other a candle-flame... Small wonder they were called the wonderful lovers.-from "When God Laughs"He was one of the most prolific American writers of the early 20th century, and remains one of the most beloved, but while his novels have remained continuously in print for a century, his short stories have been much harder to find. Here, in one volume first published in 1911, are a marvelous selection of Jack London's short fiction, including: When God Laughs . The Apostate . A Wicked Woman . "Just Meat"Created He Them . The Chinago . Make Westing . Semper Idem . A Nose for the KingThe "Francis Spaight" . A Curious Fragment . A Piece of SteakThese outstanding stories-of the sea, of the land, of the ordinary people who work them-are examples of London at this passionate best.American writer Jack London (1876-1916) is best known for his novels The Call of the Wild (1903), White Fang (1906), and the work considered his best, The Sea-Wolf (1904).

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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.