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 t an alcoholic. Nevertheless, he eloquently chronicles his tumultuous drinking career with the goal of demonstrating the ermous 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 t 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 readers as they realize how agonizing this type of life can be. With that said, this is a fantastic piece of American literature.
John Griffith Jack London (born John Griffith Chaney, January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916) was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. He is best remembered as the author of Call of the Wild and White Fang.