The Road (1907). By: Jack London: The Road is an autobiographical memoir by Jack London, first published in 1907.

By Jack London

Book Overview

The Road is an autobiographical memoir by Jack London, first published in 1907. It is London's account of his experiences as a hobo in the 1890s, during the worst economic depression the United States had experienced up to that time. He describes his experiences hopping freight trains, "holding down" a train when the crew is trying to throw him off, begging for food and money, and making up extraordinary stories to fool the police. He also tells of the thirty days that he spent in the Erie County Penitentiary, which he described as a place of "unprintable horrors," after being "pinched" (arrested) for vagrancy. In addition, he recounts his time with Kelly's Army, which he joined up with in Wyoming and remained with until its dissolution at the Mississippi River.... John Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney, January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916)was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. John Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney, January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916)was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone, including science fiction. Some of his most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote of the South Pacific in such stories as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen", and of the San Francisco Bay area in The Sea Wolf. London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers. He wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction expos The People of the Abyss, and The War of the Classes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1542766923
• ISBN13: 9781542766920
• Release Date: January 2017
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 78 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 8.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Impressing

I read this book when I was a teenager: it was a very old german copy, printed in gothic caractes: I can tell you it's hard to read an old gothic font if you are not used to it!Yet I read the whole book very fast and with great pleasure. I still remember it as one of the best I ever read. It is a wonderful, adventurous and very human tale of a different America. I think it has both literary qualities and social interest.As for the "missing historical background", as one reader says, I do not think this is a "serious falling": the story gets even more fascinating being a bit "mysterious". If you are interested in learning more about Kelly's Army, go to a library ore use Google: this is not a school book!And there IS an end: a quite sad one too, that makes you understand how London did not really fit in a "normal" life -- and in fact he ended up killing himself.Read this book.

The Road

"The Road", by Jack London is one of his best books that I have read, it is written as though it is a dairy and it is not really written like a story. I bought a copy in Okland California at the Jack London museum. Its is about his travels and experiences during the late 1800s and early 1900s when he was a hobo on the railroad. In my opinion this book is one of Jack London's better lesser know books, I highly recommend it!

A True Travel Novel

The Road by Jack London is a true on the road book. I first heard of it while studying Kerouac but had a hard time finding an affordable copy. Eventually I located it and it is wonderful. Highly recomended for anyone who travels or enjoys Kerouac, this book is an easy to read account of what the road was like at the begining of the 1900's. If you pick this up, you are in for a treat.