John Barleycorn is the first intelligent literary treatise on alcohol in American literature.
Long neglected by London partisans (who wish he had never written it) and used against him by critics who would see him as a self-confessed drunk, John Barleycorn deserves to be celebrated for what it is: a classic of American autobiography..
In John Barleycorn he records his early hardships in Oakland, his experiences as oyster pirate, deep-sea sealer, hobo, Yukon goldminer, student, drop-out, and - ultimately - best-selling author.
London\'s life was tragically short but packed with episode and adventure.
It is, however, as an exercise in autobiography that his book principally attracts the modern reader.
London offers acute generalizations on Barleycorn together with a close narrative of his own drinking career, which was heroic in scale.
John Barleycorn is the first intelligent literary treatise on alcohol in American literature
