Jack London and The Big Read

Literature has the power to impart valuable wisdom—but if no one reads it, the insights never see the light. According to a 2004 report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), less than half of American adults read any type of literature, even by its loosest definition.

In response to this dismal finding, the NEA launched The Big Read, a nationwide initiative to draw literature back into our lives. A campaign for literary culture, The Big Read engages people from Miami to Monterey in reading and discussing a single piece of literature. Participating communities will each focus on one book from the Big Read list, which includes Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. To complement this selection, The Huntington Library Press—which houses the world’s largest Jack London collection—is pleased to feature two additional books on the author.

Franklin Walker’s Jack London and the Klondike follows the young adventurer on his trek through the Yukon, and Jack London: One Hundred Years as a Writer, edited by Sara Hodson and Jeanne Campbell Reesman, chronicles his literary life and eclectic career. UC Press is also pleased to present The Radical Jack London, an anthology of London’s writings on war and revolution, edited by Jonah Raskin. Whether you join a local book discussion or spend an evening reading at home, The Big Read is the perfect excuse to indulge your imagination—and most importantly, rediscover the life-changing potential of a good book.