title: Jack London: The Unpublished and Uncollected Articles and Essays
author: Jack London
description: Daniel J. Wichlan is an independent Jack London scholar who has spent more than 30 years collecting and analyzing London's nonfiction. His overview of London's nonfiction is included in the forthcoming Oxford University Press "Handbook of Jack London." He is also editor of "The Complete Poetry of Jack London." He is on the board of The Jack London Society, and he is a member of the Jack London Foundation who elected him "Man of the Year" in recognition of his contribution to London scholarship.
zlib_text: ## 1
  
  
  ### STRANGE WORLDS
  
  
  As soon as he turned from Shaftesbury Avenue on to Charing Cross Road, Jack
  saw the queue and his stomach began to flip. It was always the same: no matter
  how many public appearances he made or interviews he gave, the initial
  evidence of his popularity always came as a shock. He stood on the opposite
  pavement appraising the scene, telling himself to relax, that there was no
  need to be nervous. These people were here to praise, not to crucify him. He
  drew a deep breath, then clenched his fists and stuffed them into the pockets
  of his scuffed brown leather jacket.
  
  
  He stood there for perhaps two minutes while the populace, a riot of cultures
  and creeds, flowed past him, while black cabs and red buses and the weaving
  motorbikes of couriers filled the air with noise and fumes. Only in London
  would his behaviour have been ignored. If he had stood stock-still on a busy
  street in any provincial town in Britain he would have attracted suspicious
  glances, veiled sni