Jack London, The Night-Born

Alexandre Fachard (University of Geneva)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Sean Seeger (University of Essex), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1911

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story Collection

Resources

Early in “the unluckiest year of his life” (1913), during which his dream home in California’s Sonoma Valley burnt down, Jack London, aged thirty-seven, published the short-story collection The Night-Born (Labor, 329). The ten tales in it range from negligible potboilers to such gems as the evocative sketch of a soldier’s life “War”, and the suspenseful fight story “The Mexican”, set during the Mexican Revolution (c. 1910–1920) and embodying London’s “finest allegory of the revolutionary spirit” (Labor, Leitz, Shepard, xxix).

“War” takes place in an unidentified country. Its protagonist is an unnamed young cavalryman tasked with tracking down enemy scouts. Riding on a hot, breathless, pollen-laden day, he is “So tensely . . . strung” and watchful that he cannot even afford to wipe the sweat from his brow (London, Night-Born, 169). He halts by a...

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2525 words

Citation: Fachard, Alexandre. "The Night-Born". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 June 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35828, accessed 08 December 2025.]

Jack London, The Night-Born

Dates

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Genres and Modes

Resources

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