Jack London cut a mythic figure across the American landscape of the early twentieth century. But throughout his colorful life -from his teenage years as an oyster pirate to his various incarnations as a well-traveled seaman, Yukon gold prospector, waterfront brawler, unemployed vagrant, impassioned socialist, and celebrated writer- he retained a predilection for drinking on a prodigious scale. London's classic "alcoholic memoirs" -the closest thing to an autobiography he ever wrote- are a start ...