The Cruise of the Dazzler

The Cruise of the Dazzler by Jack London. The Cruise of the Dazzler is an early novel by Jack London, set in his home city of San Francisco. It is considered a boy’s adventure novel. In the novel, Joe Bronson, dissatisfied with his dull life at school, runs away and joins the crew of a sloop he sees in San Francisco Bay. He finds the captain is involved in criminal activities. The nautical activities on board a sailing boat are authentically described, and there are convincing descriptions of boats enduring stormy weather at sea. Joe Bronson, instead of studying for a school exam, goes out kite-flying with his school friends; on their way back he gets involved in fights with gang members in a poor part of the city. After he fails the exam the next day, he walks out of school and takes a ferry across the bay to Oakland. Looking at the boats on the wharf, he imagines the exciting life on a boat. His father, a businessman, has a liberal attitude to his son; but, critical of his recent behavior and poor school report, tells him that he might send him to a military academy. Joe later leaves a farewell note for his family; returning to Oakland, he joins the crew of a sloop, the Dazzler. The captain Pete Le Maire is known as ”French Pete”, and the one other crew member is ‘Frisco Kid, a boy of about Joe’s age.