Jack London (Writers and Their Work) by Kenneth K. Brandt (review)

Both during his life and since his death in 1916, Jack London has remained one of America’s most popular authors. For most of that time, his standing within the academy has been low. London has rightly been taken to task for his racism and the lack of rounded female characters in his books. Less fair, however, have been the accusations that he was a bad or uninteresting writer, merely a scribbler of “dog books.” For Kenneth K. Brandt, however, London’s focus on animality and issues of evolution is what make London a fascinating writer for our own era. In this excellent introduction to London’s life and work, Brandt addresses both popular and critical understandings of London’s writing. Synthesizing scholarly research with his own original readings, Brandt has produced one of the most useful introductory guides to London’s work available.

Chapter One establishes the intellectual context within which London operated. This is followed by a series of chapters divided by theme: the northland, wilderness, class struggle, individualism, determinism, and the Pacific. This logical structure works well to introduce readers who are unfamiliar with the breadth of London’s work and allows Brandt to discuss the numerous controversies that surround this particular writer. Brandt does not shy away from the question of race and racism, for example, providing brief but thoughtful comments about London’s views on that topic. Brandt also notes that London’s representations of women can be one-dimensional.

A useful model for understanding London’s work, according to Brandt, is to think about what London called the “motif under the motif” technique. For example, London’s Northland stories “are exciting and adventurous” on the surface, while also engaging with “more moral and philosophical issues” underneath (21). Brandt’s work, too, operates well on these two levels: providing clear introductions to various themes and issues in London’s work, while providing more experienced London scholars with fresh readings and new perspectives. It is this combination that makes Jack London so useful.

Jack London mixes biography with literary criticism in a way that produces accessible yet insightful readings. The book is readable without losing complexity. It is pitched perfectly for undergraduates new to London’s work and also for general readers who would like a little more critical analysis than a typical biography would provide. Brandt provides clear examples to support his points, as when he cites The People of the Abyss (1902) as an instance of “London’s emphasis on external deterministic forces” (7). London was, Brandt states, a “revisionary visionary,” a man dedicated to “testing and retesting various perspectives” (4). These included his theories of evolution, individualism, class, and race.

Brandt brings his expertise on evolutionary psychology to bear on London’s work, producing original and convincing readings of London’s representation of nature. While many thinkers and writers have tried to suggest that human progress involves becoming less animalistic, “for London,” Brandt argues persuasively, “the animal is not so readily dismissed and is often or likely to be regenerative than destructive” (17). Writing animals also enables London to be more daring in his work. For example, the animal protagonists of The Call of the Wild and White Fang allow London “to more readily avoid human reservations about surrendering autonomy and control” (45). In making and then substantiating these claims with close reading and insights gleaned from evolutionary psychology, Brandt not only provides original analysis but also shows that it is possible to write an introductory guide that is scholarly enough to advance knowledge itself. Making use of scientific research by Christopher Boehm, Brandt notes that evolution does not make creatures inherently selfish but inherently cooperative. He then demonstrates the manifold ways in which London represents evolution in a similar way. The scholarship here is of a very high quality.

Jack London also benefits from Brandt’s decision to emphasize the influence of Schopenhauer, whose concept of...