"Like most good biographers, Clarice Stasz is an obsessive finder of fascinating background trivia, and we read about eucalyptus trees, leper colonies and peculiar gifts....She is also scrupulous about noting political blind spots (the Londons, for instance, were fierce believers in Anglo-Saxon superiority)." Women's Review of Books
The misunderstood woman behind the famous man
American Dreamers: Charmian and Jack London.. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989; paperback, iUniverse, 1999.
Movie optioned (unfilmed)
Translated to Chinese and Japanese.
Cambell Menefee Scholastic Award
This dual biography was a corrective of previous biographies of London that belittled his second wife. It examines their separate upbringings as 19th century Californians, and their extraordinary adventures during eleven years of marriage. Second wife Charmian Kittredge proved the perfect mate, a woman combining athleticism and artistry with an intuitive approach to life. Jack London, both rational and impulsive, found in her the comrade of his daydreams. They traveled the Pacific in a small sailing vessel, supported liberal causes such as prisoner rights and working conditions, and created the Beauty Ranch, a sustainable farming approach.
My feminist approach was not always appreciated by those who clung to a notion of Jack London as a self-created man's man. London was fortunate to live at the end of a time when people could still strike out on new ventures and succeed in many endeavors. He was unafraid of failure, of which he had some notable ones, and deserves recognition for his prescience, his inventiveness in agriculture, and his still-timely political commentary.
"Engaging, sensational story of the comrade-in-arms love affair between two of America's great radicals....A bracing portrait of a feminist rogue who held fast even after losing two children in birth." Kirkus Reviews
"She brings to her study a grounding in social sciences and a sensitivity for literature which is rare for someone of her background. Yet it serves her well for explaining some of the more bizarre aspects of London's behavior....what is perhaps the best written book on Jack London in print." Richmond News Leader
"American Dreamers neatly evokes much of the social and literary scene in California just before World War I."
Washington Post
"Stasz excels in describing the emotional fabric of this duo, their quirkiness and bravado....[She is] especially adept at painting a picture of Jack's bohemian and rowdy friends, called 'The Crowd'." San Francisco Chronicle
Movie optioned (unfilmed)
Translated to Chinese and Japanese.
Cambell Menefee Scholastic Award
This dual biography was a corrective of previous biographies of London that belittled his second wife. It examines their separate upbringings as 19th century Californians, and their extraordinary adventures during eleven years of marriage. Second wife Charmian Kittredge proved the perfect mate, a woman combining athleticism and artistry with an intuitive approach to life. Jack London, both rational and impulsive, found in her the comrade of his daydreams. They traveled the Pacific in a small sailing vessel, supported liberal causes such as prisoner rights and working conditions, and created the Beauty Ranch, a sustainable farming approach.
My feminist approach was not always appreciated by those who clung to a notion of Jack London as a self-created man's man. London was fortunate to live at the end of a time when people could still strike out on new ventures and succeed in many endeavors. He was unafraid of failure, of which he had some notable ones, and deserves recognition for his prescience, his inventiveness in agriculture, and his still-timely political commentary.
"Engaging, sensational story of the comrade-in-arms love affair between two of America's great radicals....A bracing portrait of a feminist rogue who held fast even after losing two children in birth." Kirkus Reviews
"She brings to her study a grounding in social sciences and a sensitivity for literature which is rare for someone of her background. Yet it serves her well for explaining some of the more bizarre aspects of London's behavior....what is perhaps the best written book on Jack London in print." Richmond News Leader
"American Dreamers neatly evokes much of the social and literary scene in California just before World War I."
Washington Post
"Stasz excels in describing the emotional fabric of this duo, their quirkiness and bravado....[She is] especially adept at painting a picture of Jack's bohemian and rowdy friends, called 'The Crowd'." San Francisco Chronicle
