Jack London certainly has his own views on alcohol and words to explain it. At times, I think he overexplains it all until I've read paragraphs of the same stuff again and again throughout. Funny how he continuously affirms that he is not an alcoholic, when all signs say otherwise, just like how an alcoholic would do. In this way, this book is an excellent example of how alcohol can slowly and assuredly take over all parts of someone's life. He lived an adventurous life! No wonder he was able to write such excellent stories. Certainly he had a lot of personal experience to draw from.