Classics · TenseBuck, a pampered pet in California, is stolen and sold as a sled dog in the Klondike Gold Rush
The Call of the Wild
by Jack London
A pampered dog is stolen and sold into the Klondike Gold Rush
Buck is a large dog, a pampered pet on a ranch in California's Santa Clara Valley. He is stolen and sold into service as a sled dog during the Klondike Gold Rush, and forced to adapt to harsh conditions and brutal treatment, he must rely on survival instincts. Other characters include the experienced outdoorsman John Thornton, the mail dispatchers François and Perrault and the rival sled dog Spitz. The Saturday Evening Post serialized it in five installments in summer 1903, and Macmillan published it as a book in July 1903.
More about this book
Who
Buck, John Thornton, François, Perrault, Spitz and the stampeders Hal, Charles and Mercedes.
World
California's Santa Clara Valley and the Yukon and Klondike region, around 1896 to 1899.
What makes it different
London meant it as a short companion piece to his story "Bâtard," but it grew to about 32,000 words. The first printing of 10,000 copies sold out immediately, and it has never gone out of print.
Feel
Fast and elemental.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- The Call of the WildWikipedia