John Barleycorn

Part memoir and part temperance argument, this candid book traces Jack London’s lifelong entanglement with alcohol, which he personifies as the old figure John Barleycorn. He looks back on drinking as a boy laborer, a teenage oyster pirate, a sailor before the mast, and later a celebrated author for whom liquor became both companion and threat. London insists he was never a helpless drunkard, yet the account grows into a sober warning about how easily social drinking hardens into dependence. Written as the prohibition debate gathered force, it remains a frank and readable self-portrait. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available to download.