With dramatic and detailed first person narration, Jack London’s Before Adam follows the dreams of a young boy who has a genetically imprinted memory and knowledge of an ancestor who lived in prehistoric times. Big Tooth is a pre-human ape and is the protagonist of the young boy’s dreams. He lives in a tribe that rests in the middle of two extremes. In the surrounding area, there are tribes of differing levels of development. One is primitive and stays in the vast forest, while the more advanced group travels and uses tools. Big Tooth’s group is somewhere in between, not quite advanced enough for tools and organization, but not so primitive that they cannot coexist with each other. While the young boy sleeps soundly and dreams, Big Tooth is being hunted by other humanoid apes and cyber tooth cats. Since his tribe hadn’t developed a language yet, Big Tooth struggles to communicate his needs and to request help. Still, Big Tooth must make alliances, find love, get food, and avoid the dangers of the undeveloped world, all while the young boy tosses and turns in his comfortable bed and advanced society, dreaming of the origins of man.