Book excerpt: Bursting out of sunny, lush Californian meadows onto the porch of Walt and Madge Irvine, 'Wolf', the brown dog with the wild grace of a timber-wolf, instantly captures the hearts of his would-be owners. Despite the blissful living conditions and love lavished upon him, Wolf's trust proves hard-won,- he tirelessly attempts to return to the mirthless Klondike lands up North where his roots lie. When at last confronted with a ghost from his past, Wolf's canine conscience is compelled for the first time to deliberate upon the hearts of the humans that love him most. 'Brown' Wolf is a touching chronicle of a very special dog-wolf with a profound need to find his life’s purpose in an irrevocably human way. It is joined by 11 other exciting and adventurous short stories in this collection penned by Jack London. Jack London (1876-1916) was an American writer and social activist. He grew up in the working class, but became a worldwide celebrity and one of the highest paid authors of his time. He wrote several novels, which are considered classics today, among these 'Call of the Wild', 'Sea Wolf' and 'White Fang'.