Helle-Biblio

The Game is a 1905 novel by Jack London about a twenty year-old boxer Joe, who meets his death in the ring. London was a sports reporter for the Oakland Herald and based the novel on his personal observations.

Joe Fleming earns his livelihood as a sailmaker and supports his mother and sisters. He adds to his income by taking part in prize-fights at sporting clubs. He is due to be married to Genevieve, who works in the Silversteins' candy shop. Joe agrees to give up "the game" but asks that Genevieve watch his last fight, on the eve of their wedding, and she reluctantly agrees. The story is told from Genevieve's point of view.

This is one of at least four stories London wrote about boxing, the others being A Piece of Steak (1909), The Mexican (1911), and The Abysmal Brute (1911). This writing, and especially The Game helped to make boxing a respectable literary topic.

Jack London (1876-1916) was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone.

London's most famous novels are The Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Sea-Wolf, The Iron Heel, and Martin Eden.