Only completing the eighth grade, Jack London began a rather undisciplined life. From his home in Oakland, CA, he loafed around the waterfront and became involved with opium smugglers, sealers, and harpooners. At the age of 15, he bought a sloop and became an oyster pirate. In 1894, he went to New York where he was jailed for a month in Buffalo as a vagrant. The experience had an effect, for he immediately returned to California to complete high school and begin studies at the University of California. All of this by age 20. In 16 years, he published 43 volumes. Seven more were published after his death.