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The Call of the Wild: And Three Other Klondike Stories
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The Call of the Wild: And Three Other Klondike Stories Compact disc - 2001

by Jack London; Read by Roger Dressler

About this book

Jack London’s The Call of the Wild is an anthropomorphic canine’s unforgettable tale of survival. Set during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, the novel’s main character, Buck, a large and powerful St. Bernard-Scotch Shepherd, is stolen from his ranch home in Santa Clara Valley, California, and sold into service as a sled dog. At first, Buck experiences violence and struggles for survival, becoming progressively feral in the harsh environment. By the end, Buck relies on his instinct and learned experience to emerge as the proven leader of the pack. 

In The Call of the Wild, author Jack London blends his experience as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness with his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, influenced by the work of Darwin and Nietzsche. Thus, although the novel is first and foremost a story about a dog, it displays a philosophical depth absent in most animal adventures.

In the summer of 1903, the story was first serialized in four installments in The Saturday Evening Post, which paid $750 for it. Soon after, London sold all rights to The Call of the Wild to Macmillan, which published the story in book format in August of that same year. As the first printing of 10,000 copies sold out immediately, it is safe to say the novel was enormously popular from the moment it was published. It has since secured its place in the canon of American literature. Today, The Call of the Wild is still one of the best-known stories written by an American author and has been published in almost 50 languages. The Call of the Wild is ranked 35th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels and 88th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. 

From the publisher

Jack London's stories are classic American favorites. Recorded unabridged in Bookcassette Audio are "Call of the Wild" and three special Klondike stories: "To Build a Fire", "Love of Life" and "To the Man on the Trail". In "Call of the Wild", a domestic dog is kidnapped from his comfortable life on a California estate and thrown into the wild north woods. Buck, half St. Bernard and half Scottish shepherd, is a strong dog but not accustomed to the harsh life of the north and he must fight for survival. He learns how to work hard; how to dig a hole in a snowbank to stay warm; how to eat anything no matter how loathsome; how to scent the weather; how to break ice to find water; and most importantly, how to survive cruelty. At one of the worst moments in his life, Buck receives unexpected human kindness from a new master. With the kind of devotion that only a dog can give, he shows loyalty to his master in ways that are both touching and profound.

First Edition Identification

Macmillan first published The Call of the Wild in August 1903. Produced in a print run of 10,000 copies, first editions state "Set up electrotyped, and published July, 1903" on the copyright page and contain 10 tipped-in color plates by illustrators Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull as well as a color frontispiece by Charles Edward Hooper. The first printing of The Call of the Wild sold for $1.50. Nowadays, signed copies have sold for upwards of $20,000.

Details

  • Title The Call of the Wild: And Three Other Klondike Stories
  • Author Jack London; Read by Roger Dressler
  • Binding Compact Disc
  • Edition Unabridged
  • Volumes 5
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Brilliance Audio
  • Date August 1, 2001
  • ISBN 9781587886041 / 1587886049
  • Weight 0.45 lbs (0.20 kg)
  • Dimensions 6.06 x 5.18 x 0.91 in (15.39 x 13.16 x 2.31 cm)
  • Ages 10 to 13 years
  • Grade levels 5 - 8
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

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