Other editions of book To Build a Fire and Tales of the North: Chautauqua Classic

To Build a Fire is a short story by Jack London, published in Century Magazine in 1908, later reprinted in the 1910 collection Lost Face. (An earlier draft had been published in 1902 in Youth's Companion.) London's widely anthologized masterpiece illustrates in graphic terms the futility of human efforts to conquer nature. Set in the Klondike in winter, the story concerns a man who ignores warnings and attempts to travel a great distance in the extreme cold. Although even his dog senses the folly of the journey, the man stubbornly continues to believe in his own infallibility. His doom is sealed when, after getting his feet wet, he is unable to build the crucial fire that might save his life. London's stark, unadorned prose is a powerful vehicle for his grim message.

"To Build a Fire" is a short story by American author Jack London. There are two versions of this story, one published in 1902 and the other in 1908. The story written in 1908 has become an often anthologized classic, while the 1902 story is less well known. London educated himself at public libraries with the writings of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche, usually in popularized forms. At 19 he crammed a four-year high school course into one year and entered the University of California, Berkeley, but after a year he quit school to seek a fortune in the Klondike gold rush. Returning the next year, still poor and unable to find work, he decided to earn a living as a writer.London studied magazines and then set himself a daily schedule of producing sonnets, ballads, jokes, anecdotes, adventure stories, or horror stories, steadily increasing his output. The optimism and energy with which he attacked his task are best conveyed in his autobiographical novel Martin Eden (1909). Within two years, stories of his Alaskan adventures began to win acceptance for their fresh subject matter and virile force. His first book, The Son of the Wolf: Tales of the Far North (1900), a collection of short stories that he had previously published in magazines, gained a wide audience.

Chautauqua Press is proud to offer another book in its collection of great classic literature. Each book in the collection contains the unabridged text from the first edition, formatted to be easy-to-read. Our books carry on the tradition of the 19th century Chautauqua movement that brought entertainment, education, and culture to communities across America. Look for other Chautauqua Classics. A wonderful collection of seven stories by Jack London. The all-time classic story, “To Build a Fire”, tells of survival in the unforgiving wilderness. A solo newcomer ignores the advice of old-timers and travels alone in sub-zero temperatures where survival may depend on your ability to start a fire. This collection also includes “Lost Face” which tells of a trapper ingenuously trying to avoid torture at the hands of his captors. “The One Thousand Dozen” examines the importance of eggs in the far north.

Do you enjoy classic literature in easy-to-carry paperback? Then you'll love To Build a Fire by Jack London! Perhaps you read To Build a Fire in school as a youth or maybe this is your first time reading Jack London's masterpiece or maybe you're a teacher buying the book for your children's literature class. Either way, enjoy Jack London's To Build a Fire book today!

Short story by Jack London, published in Century Magazine in 1908, later reprinted in the 1910 collection Lost Face. (An earlier draft had been published in 1902 in Youth's Companion.) London's widely anthologized masterpiece illustrates in graphic terms the futility of human efforts to conquer nature. Set in the Klondike in winter, the story concerns a man who ignores warnings and attempts to travel a great distance in the extreme cold. Although even his dog senses the folly of the journey, the man stubbornly continues to believe in his own infallibility. His doom is sealed when, after getting his feet wet, he is unable to build the crucial fire that might save his life. London's stark, unadorned prose is a powerful vehicle for his grim message.

Full text.One of Jack London's most beloved short stories. A heartbreaking tale set in the vast wintry landscape of the North, it endures as one of the greatest adventures ever written.An unnamed protagonist ventures out in the sub-zero tundras of the Yukon Territory, accompanied by his dog, to visit his friends. Though he was warned by an older man about the dangers of hiking alone, the protagonist ignores him. The man then underestimates the harsh weather conditions and slowly began to freeze to death. . .

"To Build a Fire" is the title of two short stories by American author Jack London, published in 1902 and 1908. The 1908 story has become an often anthologized classic; the 1902 story describes a similar situation but has a different, less famous plot. The 1908 "To Build a Fire" is an oft-cited example of the naturalist movement that portrays the conflict of man vs. nature. It also reflects what London learned in the Yukon Territory.