<Tr> <Th> Pages </Th> <Td> 515 pp (First Edition) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> OCLC </Th> <Td> 28228581 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand . The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck . The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska . He becomes progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs . By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild . </P> <P> London spent almost a year in the Yukon collecting material for the book . The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903 and was published a month later in book form . The book's great popularity and success made a reputation for London . As early as 1923, the story was adapted to film, and it has since seen several more cinematic adaptations . </P>

What is the name of the main canine character in jack london call of the wild