Lost Face

At his peak, about the time this collection was first published in 1910, Jack London was the highest-paid and perhaps the most popular living American writer. Lost Face consists of seven short works, including the title story and his finest and best-known short story, "To Build a Fire." Now in paperback for the first time, this collection appears as it was originally published. Jack London grew up in poverty, educated himself through public libraries, and, in addition to writing, devoted his life to promoting socialism (although he eventually resigned from the Socialist Party). Despite his financial and critical success, in the end he succumbed to alcoholism and depression and died of a drug overdose. During the 1898 gold rush, London traveled to the Klondike to seek his fortune. It was this experience that had the most profound effect on his writing. Not only did he mine the far north environment for subject matter (and all the stories in Lost Face take place in the Yukon), but his laconic style drew upon its cold harshness and loneliness, where people and beasts had to work together or against each other for survival. London's stories are treasured for their insights into the psychology of both people and animals—particularly dogs—and Lost Face is a brilliant collection of some of the finest examples of London's craft.