The many lives of the American literary legend whose works include the classic Call of the Wild. "I would rather be a superb meteor, and that each of my atoms shines with a magnificent brilliance, rather than a sleeping planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I will not waste my life trying to prolong my life. I want to burn all my time."-- Jack London Jack London (1876-1916), the author of such classics as Call of the Wild, White Fang and Martin Eden, was the last great voice of the American frontier and a master of the adventure novel. The Lives of Jack London was published first in France as Les vies de Jack London to coincide with the release of the film documentary of the same name in 2016, the centenary of his death. This book's title is apt, for London's adventures and achievements far exceeded his short life. Shared here are stories of a life of magnificent brilliance -- riding the rails, pirating oysters, shoveling coal and joining the Gold Rush, sailing the world, immersing himself in island societies, joyous family life, a lifelong "1,000 words a day habit" and ultimately tragedy. This engrossing and beautifully illustrated account features 400 period photographs, press clippings and letters, the majority of them never before published. * The Golden Gate 1876-1893 - Childhood and youth in the San Francisco Bay Area; oyster pirating; seal hunting expeditions in the Bering Strait.