Martin Eden tells about a proletarian young autodidact struggling to become a writer. It was first serialized in the Pacific Monthly magazine from September 1908 to September 1909, and subsequently published in book form by Macmillan in September 1909. This book is a favorite among writers, who relate to Martin Eden's speculation that when he mailed off a manuscript, "there was no human editor at the other end, but a mere cunning arrangement of cogs that changed the manuscript from one envelope to another and stuck on the stamps," returning it automatically with a rejection slip. While some readers believe there is some resemblance between them, an important difference between Jack London and Martin Eden is that Martin Eden rejects socialism, and relies on a Nietzschean individualism. In a note to Upton Sinclair, Jack London wrote, "One of my motives, in this book, was an attack on individualism (in the person of the hero). I must have bungled, for not a single reviewer has discovered it.

"青年水手马丁·伊登偶然结识了上流社会的罗丝小姐，受她的启发，发愤自学，并开始了艰苦的创作生涯。尽管处处碰壁，他仍不愿听从罗丝的安排，进她父亲的事务所，做个"有为青年"。后来他突然时来运转，以前被退回的稿件纷纷得到发表，成为当红作家。以前看不起他的亲友都争先恐后地来请他吃饭，连已和他决裂的罗丝也主动前来投怀送抱。这使他看清了这个世态炎凉的社会，对爱情所抱的美妙幻想也彻底破灭......杰克·伦敦代表作《马丁·伊登》展现了资本主义社会中一个有良心的作家的命运，抨击、揭露了资本主义社会的种种阴暗面。