In 1876， Jack London was born in San Francisco. Because his mother was ill， Jack was raised through infancy① by Virginia， who would remain a major maternal figure while the boy grew up.
Late in 1876， his mother married John London. Then the family moved around the Bay area before settling in Oakland， where Jack completed grade school.
He worked at various hard labor jobs， pirated② for oysters on San Francisco Bay， served on a fish patrol to capture poachers③， sailed the Pacific on a sealing ship， joined Kelly’s Army of unemployed working men. He had hoboes around the country， and returned to attend high school at age 19.
Always a prolific reader， he consciously chose to become a writer to escape from the horrific prospects④ of life as a factory worker. He studied other writers and began to submit stories， jokes， and poems to various publications， mostly without success.
Spending the winter of 1897 in the Yukon provided the metaphorical⑤ gold for his first stories， which he began publishing in the Overland Monthly in 1899.
From some point he was a highly produced writer， who would produce over fifty volumes of stories， novels， and political essays.
Although The Call of the Wild in 1903 brought him lasting fame， many of his short stories deserve to be called classics， as does his critique⑥ of capitalism and poverty in The People of the Abyss in 1903.
London’s long voyage from 1907 to 1909 across the Pacific in a small boat provided material for books and stories about Polynesian and Melanesian cultures.
Often troubled by physical ailments⑦， during his thirties London developed kidney disease of unknown origin. On November 22， 1916， He died of renal failure on the ranch. Because his writings were translated in several dozen languages， he remains more widely read in some countries.
① infancyn. 婴儿期，幼年
② piratev. 做海盗，从事劫掠
③ poachern. 偷猎者，非法捕鱼者
④ prospectn. 前景，前途
⑤ metaphoricaladj. 用隐喻的，比喻的
⑥ critiquen. 批评，评论，评论文
⑦ ailmentn. 病痛，疾病
杰克·伦敦
1876年，杰克·伦敦于旧金山出生。由于杰克的母亲体弱多病，所以整个婴孩时期，杰克都由弗吉尼亚来抚养，后来在这个男孩的整个成长过程中，她一直扮演着很重要的母亲似的角色。1876年底，他的母亲嫁给了约翰·伦敦。而后在到奥克兰定居之前，他们全家搬到了海湾地区居住，在那里杰克读完了小学。
他曾经从事过多种艰苦的工作：在旧金山海湾地区劫掠牡蛎；在追捕劫蚝贼的水上巡逻队中服务，以捕获偷猎者；搭乘一艘密封船航行去太平洋；加入由失业男子组成的凯利的军队。
在将整个国家环行了一圈后，他于19岁那年重返学校读高中。
作为一位很富于创造力的读者，他有意识地选择成为一名作家，以此来躲避作为一名工人的那种惨淡无光的前景。他研究了数位作家，开始将自己创作的故事、笑话、诗歌等投递给多家出版社，但是其中多数都没有成功。
1897年，他在育空度过了整个冬季，这为他完成第一个故事提供了素材，1899年，他开始在《大陆月刊》上发表自己的这本小说。
从某种角度来说，他是一位多产的作家，创造了50多部故事、小说以及政论性的文章。
虽然1903年的《野性的呼唤》给他带来了持久的名誉，但是他的许多短篇故事却堪称经典之作，例如1903年创作的批判资本主义以及同情贫苦人民的小说《深渊》。
于1907年到1909年乘小舟横跨太平洋的长途之旅，为他在创作波利尼西亚及美拉尼西亚文化方面的书籍和故事提供了素材。
伦敦经常被身体上的病痛所折磨，在30岁的时候，不知病因何在，他却得了肾脏病。1916年11月22日，由于肾功能衰竭，他在牧场去世。他的著作被翻译成了几十种语言，至今仍然在一些国家广泛流传着。