Martin Eden
When London wrote "Martin Eden" at age 33, he had already achieved international acclaim with "The Call of the Wild", "The Sea-Wolf" and "White Fang". Despite the acclaim, he quickly became disillusioned with his fame and set sail through the South Pacific on a self-designed ketch, the "Snark". On the grueling two-year voyage, as he struggled with tiredness and bowel diseases, he wrote "Martin Eden", filling its pages with his frustrations, adolescent gangfights and struggles for artistic recognition.