Tag Archives: Jack London

The Dark Night of a Writer’s Soul

Second prelude:  Outside my window the apartment parking lot and cars are dusted with snow.  I was going to sit down and write an essay about my current state of mind, and was going to refer to the stunningly poetic … Continue reading

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A Tale of Three Jackets

In order to help you understand this completely I need to tell you an anecdote about my father.  He had a great sense of humor back in the days when most of us lived together under one roof, before we … Continue reading

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On Rereading Martin Eden by Jack London; Part Three: The Finale

“Martin Eden” is not Jack London’s best book.  In fact, it’s not even one of his better books.  His best works are his short stories.  Not all of them, because he wrote many, but the ones in which he threw … Continue reading

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On Rereading Martin Eden by Jack London; Part Two: What It Means to Be a Writer

This books hits almost too close to home.  It’s uncanny how reading it now more than four decades after I first read it, I still have many of the same emotions.  Martin Eden decides to become a writer.  He works … Continue reading

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On Rereading Martin Eden by Jack London; Part One: Futurama, Self-Publishing, and Jack London’s Rapacity

Last night I couldn’t sleep.  Sometimes I get insomnia for a simple reason like sleeping too long during my afternoon nap, but such was not the case this time.  Three seemingly unrelated bits of input created deep despondency in me, … Continue reading

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California Writers: Jack London and Glen Ellen

This is an excerpt from my recently-published memoir “America Redux: Impressions of the United States After Thirty-Five Years Abroad”. To reach our next destination we have to head north through the Bay Area and San Francisco itself, across the Golden … Continue reading

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Book Review: Jack London, Sailor on Horseback by Irving Stone

We writers are often lonely people.  We labor away day after day, alone in our rooms at our keyboards.  Often those around us don’t understand what we are going through and what drives us to persevere. How I acquired this … Continue reading

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Short Story Author Highlight: Jack London

Jack London was an amazingly prolific writer.  Every day he got up early and before he did anything else he fulfilled his quota of words, which varied between one thousand and one thousand five hundred.  He wrote novels, autobiography, social … Continue reading

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My Favorite Short Stories: Part One

One of my favorite literary forms is the short story.  Another is memoir.  So here is a perfect combination:  memories of some of my favorite stories.  I have not put a number in the title because I don’t know how … Continue reading

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On Exercise

Since today is one of my exercise days, I thought I would say a few words on how I exercise and why. I have to confess that until I was forty I never did any sort of sustained organized exercise.  … Continue reading

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