The Critical Response to Jack London

(Hardback)

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This volume contains the key pieces of criticism on London's major works arranged chronologically to reconstruct the literary debate on London's work from earliest reviews to recent analyses. The essays contained here show how the perception of London's ideas and concerns have evolved throughout the 20th century to reflect the changes in American ethos itself. Jack London continues to be one of America's most popular writers. While most critics have ignored him or underestimated his contribution to American letters for that reason, this anthology shows that some of the best minds of the 20th century have regarded London's work highly. This volume contains the key pieces of criticism on London's major works arranged chronologically to reconstruct the literary debate on London's work from earliest reviews to recent analyses. The essays contained here show how the perception of London's ideas and concerns has evolved throughout the 20th century to reflect the changes in the American ethos itself. London represents the American spirit which views life as dynamic rather than static, changing rather than stable. His philosophy of life was broad to the extent of including contradictions, not narrow and harmonious with the selective ideas of an ideology. He has been the best-selling American writer throughout the world, and has been translated more extensively than any other American or English novelist of the 20th century.

Reviews

"An important contribution to Jack London studies. Expertly selecting several informative past and present reviews of the author's work, Dr. Nuernberg provides interested readers with key evidence of various discursive critical approaches. The book will prove to be an essential resource for future directions in Jack London scholarship"-Tony Williams, Associate Professor Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
This volume contains the key pieces of criticisms of London's major works arranged chronologically, reconstructing the literary debate on London's work from the earliest reviews to the most recent analysis....The anthology is designed to provide readers with a useful text for the study of london that brings together in one place new essays, an updated bibliography, a selective reading list, many hard to obtain early reviews, and key critical articles documenting the literary response to Jack London.-Western American Literature
"This volume contains the key pieces of criticisms of London's major works arranged chronologically, reconstructing the literary debate on London's work from the earliest reviews to the most recent analysis....The anthology is designed to provide readers with a useful text for the study of london that brings together in one place new essays, an updated bibliography, a selective reading list, many hard to obtain early reviews, and key critical articles documenting the literary response to Jack London."-Western American Literature

Author Bio

SUSAN M. NUERNBERG is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.