What Life Means to Me

Luigi Dal Cin & Virginia Clericetti, retold by Pierdomenico Baccalario

Jack London looks back on his past: a childhood among farmhands and laborers, a hard and hungry life. He knows that high above him there is “the edifice” of those who own everything, and he feels the push to climb all the way up and sit at the rich people’s table.

He sells newspapers on the street, steals along the riverbanks, works in a factory, ends up in jail, studies, discovers politics, travels the world… and finally reaches a stark conclusion: the exploited will remain exploited, the capitalists will remain capitalists, and even intellectual work is just another commodity.

He understands that the real people are not the rich, but the workers. He stands with them to “blow up the edifice” and begins to write. And in this, no one can beat him.

In Pierdomenico Baccalario’s retelling, Jack London’s sharp and clear-eyed reflection becomes a kind of autobiography set against the backdrop of early 20th century America. A bittersweet yet hopeful call for change that still feels strikingly relevant and universal today.