Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist, journalist and social activist. Pioneering the genre of magazine fiction and prototyping science fiction, he became one of the first writers, who gained worldwide fame and a large fortune. As an autobiographical novel adopting the name of an old English folk song, "John Barleycorn" tells the story of the author`s struggles with alcoholism at different stages of his life. It also includes a variety of themes like masculinity, friendship, general life experiences and the literary fame.