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.