Approaches to Teaching the Works of Jack London ed. by Kenneth K. Brandt and Jeanne Campbell Reesman (review)

This wide-reaching collection pulls together the work of a large cast of contributors, twenty-one in total, to reinvigorate critical interest in Jack London. Despite the knowledge of wavering academic interest in London’s fiction, the editors revisit some of London’s best-known texts, such as White Fang, The Call of the Wild, and The Sea-Wolf, with more recent theoretical approaches not usually associated with the author, such as queer and genre theory as well as ecocriticism. Yet what makes this collection particularly noteworthy is its emphasis on practical pedagogical tools for teaching London in today’s university classroom. That is, the editors seem to view the future of London studies in an emergent student body. With that goal in mind each contribution seeks to embed critical research within methodologies for communicating that work to the average undergraduate or graduate student.

Much of the difficulty in ensuring the continuation of scholarship on London lies in making theory and criticism accessible to students unfamiliar with that terrain, an endeavor which this collection accomplishes well. In their introduction, Brandt and Reesman argue that London is an “ideal choice for the emerging scholar of American literatures who focuses on comparative and multicultural studies” and express their hope that the collection will provide avenues for exploring the ways London’s fiction constructs “class, race, and gender” (17). To that end, the essays provide possible classroom approaches for teaching London and supply the reader with sample syllabi, generative questions pertinent to today’s students, and memoirs of classroom experience that foretell student responses and learning outcomes. With its balance between familiar theoretical territory and new schools of thought, as well as its pedagogical inventiveness, this collection performs the dual task of revisiting one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century with refreshing academic vigor and innovative teaching approaches.

Unlike other collections with similar aims, the essays assembled in this collection weave teaching practices within academic research instead of dividing the contributions along those lines. Rather than sectioning off criticism from discussion of pedagogical tools, the essays are grouped according to four major categories of thematic interest: “Intellectual and Cultural Contexts”; “Class, Politics, and Ideology”; “Intersections of Race and Gender”; and “Classroom Contexts.” For that reason, certain texts continually reappear in some sections, which somewhat limits the scope of those portions. For example, the thematic chapter on class and politics largely focuses on London’s The Iron Heel, while The Sea-Wolf appears in the section on the race and gender multiple times. This is not to say, however, that the readings and uses of those texts are redundant but that readers interested in a wider survey of London’s work should be aware of the limited breadth of some of the essay groupings.

Before introducing these thematic sections, however, the editors include a lengthy list of materials related to London’s life and fiction as well as evaluative summaries of each text. While initially appearing a bit cumbersome, this introductory material provides an informative overview of the breadth of the scholarly work done on London. Any instructor or graduate student looking for secondary material to expand on the ideas presented in the collection will undoubtedly find this list of sources to be a large help. Additionally, the volume contains a thorough index that will further aid any potential researcher.

Part 2 of the collection, entitled “Approaches,” begins with the thematic category “Intellectual and Cultural Contexts” and draws on, but is not entirely beholden to, the author’s biography and historical circumstances. The editors hope that by providing this context, students will be better able to contextualize “London’s identity as author, celebrity, and thinker” while illustrating how he “incorporated Darwinism and other philosophical viewpoints in his writing” (17). Sara Hodson’s opening essay explores the cult of celebrity that surrounded London and the ways fame becomes a...