A prolific and enduringly popular author--and an icon of American fiction--Jack London is a rewarding choice for inclusion in classrooms from middle school to graduate programs. London's biography and the role played by celebrity have garnered considerable attention, but the breadth of his personal experiences and political views and the many historical and cultural contexts that shaped his work are key to gaining a nuanced view of London's corpus of works, as this volume's wide-ranging perspectives and examples attest.
The first section of this volume, Materials, surveys the many resources available for teaching London, including editions of his works, sources for his photography, and audiovisual aids. In part 2, Approaches, contributors recommend practices for teaching London's works through the lenses of socialism and class, race, gender, ecocriticism and animal studies, theories of evolution, legal theory, and regional history, both in frequently taught texts such as The Call of the Wild, To Build a Fire, and Martin Eden and in his lesser-known works.
About the Author: Kenneth K. Brandtis professor of English at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He is the executive coordinator of the Jack London Society, the editor of The Call: The Magazine of the Jack London Society, and has published articles on Charles Bukowski, Ernest Hemingway, Robinson Jeffers, Jack London, Cormac McCarthy, and Joyce Carol Oates. His forthcoming book is Jack London: Writers and Their Work.
Jeanne Campbell Reesmanis professor of English and Jack and Laura Richmond Endowed Fellow in American Literature at the University of Texas, San Antonio. She has served there as graduate director of the PhD in English; division director of English, classics, philosophy, and communication; and graduate dean. She is the author of numerous books and articles on Jack London, including most recently Jack London's Racial Livesand, with Sara. S. Hodson, Jack London, Photographer. She is at work on her latest book, Mark Twain vs. God: The Story of a Relationship. She has served as a Fulbright Professor in Greece (2007) and France (2010).
