Jack London, whose full name was John Griffith London, was born in the slums of San Francisco in 1876., he had to go to work at an early age to support his family. Jack London was enrolled for a short time at the University of California at Berkeley, but he left it in the late 1890s because he joined the gold rush in the wild Yukon Territory in Canada. London never found gold, but his experiences in the harsh environment gave him ideas for his stories. When he returned to San Francisco, he began writing about what he saw and did. After he won a writing contest, he decided to devote his life to writing stories. 1903 was the year. The book,, brought him fame and a certain fortune. Many of his stories are about a civilised man who gets back in touch with his deep, animal instincts. Jack London wrote more than 50 books and was extremely popular. His writing style, which was often described as exciting and brutal, attracted readers from all over the world. In 1916, Jack London died at his home in California. Although he was only forty years old, he had had enough time to become one of the most famous and respected writers of his time. 1. which told the story of a dog purloined from a California ranch and set to work as a sled dog in faraway Alaska 2. which were very popular 3. when his most famous book, "The Call of the Wild", was published 4. because of the fact that his family was poor