Book excerpt: "Jack London's The call of the wild (1903) concerns a dog named Buck, a 140lb Saint Bernard and Scotch Shepherd mix. Living an easy life as the pet dog of Judge Miller in the Santa Clara Valley of Northern California, Buck is abducted by Manuel, and assistant of the Miller's gardener, and is sold to a trainer of sled dogs. Introduced to a brutal new way of life in which he must struggle to survive, Buck becomes wild and furious"--Page 4 of cover.