John Barleycorn

Chapter I

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter I It all came to me one election day. It was on a warm California afternoon, and I had...

Chapter II

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter II And, ere I begin, I must ask the reader to walk with me in all sympathy; and, since...

Chapter III

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter III I was five years old the first time I got drunk. It was on a hot day, and...

Chapter IV

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter IV   My next bout with John Barleycorn occurred when I was seven. This time my imagination was at...

Chapter V

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter V This physical loathing for alcohol I have never got over. But I have conquered it. To this day...

Chapter VI

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter VI But the time was rapidly drawing near when I was to begin my second series of bouts with...

Chapter VII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter VII I was barely turned fifteen, and working long hours in a cannery. Month in and month out, the...

Chapter VIII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter VIII We met by appointment, early Monday morning, to complete the deal, in Johnny Heinhold’s “Last Chance “–a saloon,...

Chapter IX

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter IX Gradual as was my development as a heavy drinker among the oyster pirates, the real heavy drinking came...

Chapter X

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter X   And so I won my manhood’s spurs. My status on the water-front and with the oyster pirates...

Chapter XI

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XI And still there arose in me no desire for alcohol, no chemical demand. In years and years of...

Chapter XII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XII Nor have I ever regretted those months of mad devilry I put in with Nelson. He COULD sail,...

Chapter XIII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XIII So I left Benicia, where John Barleycorn had nearly got me, and ranged wider afield in pursuit of...

Chapter XIV

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XIV Back in Oakland from my wanderings, I returned to the water-front and renewed my comradeship with Nelson, who...

Chapter XV

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XV It was during the early winter of 1892 that I resolved to go to sea. My Hancock Fire...

Chapter XVI

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XVI There was nothing to drink on the Sophie Sutherland, and we had fifty-one days of glorious sailing, taking...

Chapter XVII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XVII North we raced from the Bonin Islands to pick up the seal-herd, and north we hunted it for...

Chapter XVIII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XVIII My infatuation for the Oakland water-front was quite dead. I didn’t like the looks of it, nor the...

Chapter XIX

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XIX When I was with people who did not drink, I never thought of drinking. Louis did not drink....

Chapter XX

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XX Work! Let any youth just turned eighteen try to out-shovel two man-grown coal-shovelers! The jute mills failed of...

Chapter XXI

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXI But behold! As soon as I went out on the adventure-path I met John Barleycorn again. I moved...

Chapter XXII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXII Three years was the time required to go through the high school. I grew impatient. Also, my schooling...

Chapter XXIII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXIII My cruise in the salmon boat lasted a week, and I returned ready to enter the university. During...

Chapter XXIV

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXIV Out in the country, at the Belmont Academy, I went to work in a small, perfectly appointed steam...

Chapter XXV

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXV After the laundry my sister and her husband grubstaked me into the Klondike. It was the first gold...

Chapter XXVI

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXVI Having burned my ship, I plunged into writing. I am afraid I always was an extremist. Early and...

Chapter XXVII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXVII As I succeeded with my writing, my standard of living rose and my horizon broadened. I confined myself...

Chapter XXVIII

  John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXVIII Not yet was I ready to tuck my arm in John Barleycorn’s. The older I got, the...

Chapter XXIX

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXIX After my long sickness my drinking continued to be convivial. I drank when others drank and I was...

Chapter XXX

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXX Part of the process of recovering from my long sickness was to find delight in little things, in...

Chapter XXXI

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXI But the same stimulus to the human organism will not continue to produce the same response. By and...

Chapter XXXII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXII When the Snark sailed on her long cruise from San Francisco there was nothing to drink on board....

Chapter XXXIII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXIII I went to Australia to go into hospital and get tinkered up, after which I planned to go...

Chapter XXXIV

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXIV Back on the ranch, in the Valley of the Moon, I resumed my steady drinking. My programme was...

Chapter XXXV

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXV But the freight has to be paid. John Barleycorn began to collect, and he collected not so much...

Chapter XXXVI

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXVI Back to personal experiences and the effects in the past of John Barleycorn’s White Logic on me. On...

Chapter XXXVII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXVII “Come,” says the White Logic, “and forget these Asian dreamers of old time. Fill your glass and let...

Chapter XXXVIII

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXVIII The foregoing is a sample roaming with the White Logic through the dusk of my soul. To the...

Chapter XXXIX

John Barleycorn by Jack London Chapter XXXIX Of course, no personal tale is complete without bringing the narrative of the person down to the last...

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