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Wolf: The Lives of Jack London Audiobook
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(3.06) - 123 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Jack London was born a working-class, fatherless San Franciscan in 1876. In his youth, he was a boundlessly energetic adventurer on the bustling west coast—by and by playing the role of hobo, sailor, and oyster pirate. From his vantage point at the margins of Gilded Age America, he witnessed such iniquity and abuses that he became a life long socialist and advocate for reform. His adventures in the American wilderness and underworld informed his fiction, and his writing came to captivate the nation as it defined his era. Within his own short lifetime, London became the most popular, and bestselling, author of his generation.
By adulthood he had matured into the iconic American author of such still-universally loved books asThe Call of the Wild,White Fang, andSea Wolf, but in spite of his success, he was at war with himself. The highest-paid writer in America, he was constantly broke. Famous as he was for conjuring the brutality of nature in story after story and novel after novel, upon the actual deaths of his favorite animals he would dissolve into helpless tears. Sick, angry, and disillusioned, after a short, breathless life, he passed away at age forty—but he left behind him a glorious literary legacy.
Award-winning author James L. Haley explores the forgotten Jack London—a man bristling with ideas, whose passion for social justice roared until the day he died. InWolf, Haley returns Jack London to his proper place in the American pantheon, resurrecting the author ofWhite Fangin his full fire and glory.
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"Great biography. It was a good page turner and very clever. I felt like it was well researched and seemed very fair. I'm not a huge fan of this genre, but I enjoyed it greatly. I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading about authors or the early twentieth century."
— Brad (5 out of 5 stars)
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“[A] valuable Londonbiography. It surpasses Irving Stone’s 1938 Sailor on Horseback, giving us a well-delineated picture of a singular, complicated figure…These days we have little sense of the literary glory that was Jack London. Thanks to James Haley’s zeal, the author of [the fiercely imaginative Before Adam], not just the man of The Call of the Wild, is before us again.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“Narrator Bronson Pinchot’s direct, animated performance proves to be a perfect complement to the rich and absorbing text. With Pinchot’s well-paced and fluid delivery, listeners are easily made witness to the most intimate and exciting details of London’s life. Listeners looking for an entertaining biography will find it here.”
— AudioFile -
“Haley’s work is the sympathetically told story of a man unlucky in his birth to foolish parents, unlucky enough in his health to die at forty, and unlucky with women until his second wife, Charmian. Recommended.”
— Library Journal
Awards
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An AudioFile Editors’ Pick
Wolf Listener Reviews
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" I didn't know much about Jack London, but wow, what a life. Or, as the author says, lives--he had very distinct periods or stages of life that were wildly different, but all added up to a fascinating story. "
— Amy, 10/4/2013 -
" Seems to be a rather even-handed biography. London lived an amazing life - or perhaps several lives - in his short number of years. It has inspired me to go back and re-read some of his works. "
— Rita, 10/2/2013 -
" Interesting read, I didn't know much about Jack London before reading this. A well rounded account of the hard and adventurous life that he mined for his work. "
— Matt, 4/26/2013 -
" Assigned review for Audiofile Magazine "
— Jason, 4/8/2013 -
" Really good biography of Jack London, his life and his work. "
— Evalyn, 11/11/2012 -
" Authors political bias bleeds throughout the book. Tainting what could be an interesting biography otherwise. "
— Kelly, 10/20/2011 -
" A really good bio about a very complex and gifted man. I'm going to read Call of the Wild, now. "
— Wade, 7/28/2011 -
" what an amazing man, adventurer, environmentalist, ahead of his time(not all goldlen). Can't believe there hasn't been a major motion picture of his life (george clooney maybe?) "
— Alhanson, 4/29/2011 -
" Wish that I had never learned the truth about his life. I liked him better when I didn't know the facts! "
— Janette, 4/10/2011 -
" I didn't know much about Jack London, but wow, what a life. Or, as the author says, lives--he had very distinct periods or stages of life that were wildly different, but all added up to a fascinating story. "
— Amy, 11/9/2010 -
" Wish that I had never learned the truth about his life. I liked him better when I didn't know the facts! "
— Janette, 10/24/2010 -
" Really good biography of Jack London, his life and his work. "
— Evalyn, 9/7/2010 -
" Assigned review for Audiofile Magazine "
— Jason, 7/28/2010
About James L. Haley
James L. Haley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in political science. His works of history include Apaches, The Buffalo War, and Sam Houston: A Life, which won nine historical and literary awards. Haley is also the author of four novels. He lives in Austin, Texas.
About Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Pinchot, Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2010, has won Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Awards, AudioFile Earphones Awards, Audible’s Book of the Year Award, and Audie Awards for several audiobooks, including Matterhorn, Wise Blood, Occupied City, and The Learners. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale, he is an Emmy- and People’s Choice-nominated veteran of movies, television, and Broadway and West End shows. His performance of Malvolio in Twelfth Night was named the highlight of the entire two-year Kennedy Center Shakespeare Festival by the Washington Post. He attended the acting programs at Shakespeare & Company and Circle-in-the-Square, logged in well over 200 episodes of television, starred or costarred in a bouquet of films, plays, musicals, and Shakespeare on Broadway and in London, and developed a passion for Greek revival architecture.