John Barleycorn: "Alcoholic Memoirs" (Worlds Classics) [Paperback]

Jack London (Author), John Sutherland (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Worlds Classics | Publication Date: November 9, 1989

This autobiography by the successful writer of "Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" shattered his international image as a rugged, energetic adventurer when it was first published in 1913. It recounts a pessimistic life of total alcohol abuse that began in Jack London's childhood in San Francisco.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Assuredly one of the most useful, as well as one of the most entertaining books ever penned by a man."
--Upton Sinclair --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

This book is in Electronic Paperback Format. If you view this book on any of the computer systems below, it will look like a book. Simple to run, no program to install. Just put the CD in your CDROM drive and start reading. The simple easy to use interface is child tested at pre-school levels.

Windows 3.11, Windows/95, Windows/98, OS/2 and MacIntosh and Linux with Windows Emulation.

Includes Quiet Vision's Dynamic Index. the abilty to build a index for any set of characters or words. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (November 9, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019281804X
• ISBN-13: 978-0192818041
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,768,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Jingled, January 10, 2007

By 

P.K. Ryan "The Ryan Identity" (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Barleycorn (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

`John Barleycorn' is the so-called "Alcoholic memoirs" of American literary icon Jack London. John Barleycorn was London's nickname for booze, and his relationship with Mr. Barleycorn is one of love/hate. In spite of the sub-title, London persists throughout this drunken autobiography that he is not an alcoholic. Nevertheless, he eloquently chronicles his tumultuous drinking career with the goal of demonstrating the enormous toll that alcohol can take on the mind, body, and spirit. At times, he glorifies his drinking, but for the most part he seems to resent this seductive destroyer of men, and claims that the only reason he drinks so much is because it is everywhere. He sees drinking as sort of a social obligation, a manly thing to do around other men. Not only does he resent it, but he concludes that prohibition is the only way to stop the destructive force of alcohol.

`John Barleycorn' is not only a story about the effects of alcohol on one man's life, but it is also an adventurous tale of one of America's first celebrities rise from rags to riches. The narrative begins with London's poverty-stricken childhood in San Francisco, continues through his teenage years as a brawling oyster pirate, and on into his adult years as a celebrated writer and passionate socialist. The prose is magnificent, and although `John Barleycorn" was highly entertaining, there is also a sense of sadness for me because I know first-hand how agonizing this type of life can be. With that said, this is a fantastic piece of American literature.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'll drink to this one, January 30, 2000

By 

Tom Bruce (East Moriches, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Barleycorn (Paperback)

Reading Jack London's "John Barleycorn" is like attending an AA meeting almost 50 years before they were instituted. London herein gives his story of life with alcohol, and it is much like those you hear in the rooms. Beginning with denial, then the drinking becomes a morning thing, then on the sly, the progression is classic alcoholism. Along the way, London includes enough autobiographical information that this is more than just a booze tale. Interestingly, London -- a devout socialist -- constantly harps on the need for prohibition in this country as a way to end the danger of alcoholism. And we all know how that worked out. I'm, an alcoholic, so I appreciated the book on one level. London is my favorite author, and this is one of his good efforts. It's not a depressing tale but one that is uplifting. I recommend it.(Review by Tom Bruce)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful prose, May 1, 2007

By 

E. Cetin (East Quogue, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Barleycorn (Hardcover)

Jack London is the author that I admire the most among the American authors and this memoir, like his other works I read, gave me great reading pleasure. His life started in poverty, he lived a life of struggle and adventure, alcohol was always present as he grew up, and he felt obliged to drink to fit in the macho social environment, eventually developing a heavy drinking habit. In John Barleycorn he tells his story honestly, he describes the surroundings and characters around him beautifully, and especially his psychological descriptions are superb. In one part, while he was drunk and going by himself on a sloop at night, he falls in the water and he describes how all of a sudden he found himself thinking about committing suicide:

"Thoughts of suicide had never entered my head. And now that they entered, I thought it fine, a splendid culmination, a perfect rounding off of my short but exciting career. I, who had never known a girl's love, nor woman's love, nor the love of children; who had never played in the wide joy-fields of art, nor climbed the star-cool heights of philosophy, nor seen with my eyes more than a pin-point's surface of the gorgeous world; I decided that this was all, that I had seen all, lived all, been all, that was worth while, and that now was the time to cease.....The water was delicious. It was a man's way to die. It was a hero's death, and by the hero's own hand and will."

Such is the depth of his character descriptions, such is the way he reflects the mood beautifully. A "must read".