Jack London was an American novelist, journalist, social-activist and short-story writer whose works deal romantically with elemental struggles for survival. At his peak, he was the highest paid and the most popular of all living writers. Because of early financial difficulties, he was largely self-educated past grammar school. London drew heavily on his life experiences in his writing. He spent time in the Klondike during the Gold Rush and at various times was an oyster pirate, a seaman, a sealer, and a hobo. His first work was published in 1898. From there he went on to write such American classics as Call of the Wild, Sea Wolf, and White Fang. London became a well-known writer and was one of the first to achieve true financial success from his writings. His success brought controversy as well. He was a prodigious writer producing over 500 works and was often accused of plagiarism. The manner in which he chose to work contributed to those accusations; he bought plots for stories and novels from a young Sinclair Lewis and he used incidents read in newspapers as material for his stories. London's most famous short story, particularly popular in both middle- and high school language arts classes, is To Build a Fire. His writing belongs more to the naturalist and socio-critical tradition than the modernist style that was predominant at the time. The themes in his short story Flush of Gold are survival of the fittest and women's suffrage. You can listen online to free English audiobook “Flush of Gold” by Jack London on our website.
