The Road

by Jack London

Overview

There is a woman in the state of Nevada to whom I once lied continuously, consistently, and shamelessly, for the matter of a couple of hours. I don't want to apologize to her. Far be it from me. But I do want to explain. Unfortunately, I do not know her name, much less her present address. If her eyes should chance upon these lines, I hope she will write to me.
It was in Reno, Nevada, in the summer of 1892. Also, it was fair-time, and the town was filled with petty crooks and tin-horns, to say nothing of a vast and hungry horde of hoboes. It was the hungry hoboes that made the town a "hungry" town. They "battered" the back doors of the homes of the citizens until the back doors became unresponsive.
A hard town for "scoffings," was what the hoboes called it at that time. I know that I missed many a meal, in spite of the fact that I could "throw my feet" with the next one when it came to "slamming a gate" for a "poke-out" or a "set-down," or hitting for a "light piece" on the street. Why, I was so hard put in that town, one day, that I gave the porter the slip and invaded the private car of some itinerant millionnaire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781519625557
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	12/01/1907
Pages:	104
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.22(d)

About the Author

Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist and journalist. Born in San Francisco to Florence Wellman, a spiritualist, and William Chaney, an astrologer, London was raised by his mother and her husband, John London, in Oakland. An intelligent boy, Jack went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley before leaving school to join the Klondike Gold Rush. His experiences in the Klondike—hard labor, life in a hostile environment, and bouts of scurvy—both shaped his sociopolitical outlook and served as powerful material for such works as “To Build a Fire” (1902), The Call of the Wild (1903), and White Fang (1906). When he returned to Oakland, London embarked on a career as a professional writer, finding success with novels and short fiction. In 1904, London worked as a war correspondent covering the Russo-Japanese War and was arrested several times by Japanese authorities. Upon returning to California, he joined the famous Bohemian Club, befriending such members as Ambrose Bierce and John Muir. London married Charmian Kittredge in 1905, the same year he purchased the thousand-acre Beauty Ranch in Sonoma County, California. London, who suffered from numerous illnesses throughout his life, died on his ranch at the age of 40. A lifelong advocate for socialism and animal rights, London is recognized as a pioneer of science fiction and an important figure in twentieth century American literature.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Selected Bibliography
A Note on the Text
List of Illustrations

Chapter 1: Confession
Chapter 2: Holding Her Down
Chapter 3: Pictures
Chapter 4: "Pinched"
Chapter 5: The Pen
Chapter 6: Hoboes That Pass in the Night
Chapter 7: Road-Kids and Gay-Cats
Chapter 8: Two Thousand Stiffs
Chapter 9: Bulls

Explanatory Notes
About the Editor

Editorial Reviews

London hit the road long before Kerouac, hopping a train in 1894 at age 18 and traveling 10,000 miles as a hobo. He related his experiences in nine illustrated essays published in Cosmopolitan (not the one you're thinking of) between 1907 and 1908. This reprint is the inaugural volume in Rutgers's "Subterranean Lives" series, which will chronicle alternative looks at America. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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