Pearl S. Buck A Cultural Biography [Paperback]

'An elegant, absorbing book.' Washington PostDescribed by the Washington Post as an 'elegant absorbing book', Peter Conn's critically acclaimed biography retrieves from the footnotes of literary and cultural history one of the most popular novelists of the twentieth century, winner of a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize for Literature and an active social and political campaigner.Described by the Washington Post as an 'elegant absorbing book', Peter Conn's critically acclaimed biography retrieves from the footnotes of literary and cultural history one of the most popular novelists of the twentieth century, winner of a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize for Literature and an active social and political campaigner.Pearl S. Buck was one of the most renowned, interesting, and controversial figures ever to influence American and Chinese cultural and literary history--and yet she remains one of the least studied, honored, or remembered. In this richly illustrated and meticulously crafted narrative, Conn recounts Buck's life in absorbing detail, tracing the parallel course of American and Chinese history. This cultural biography thus offers a dual portrait: of Buck, a figure greater than history cares to remember, and of the era she helped to shape.Preface: Rediscovering Pearl Buck; 1. Missionary childhood; 2. New worlds; 3. Winds of change; 4. The Good Earth; 5. An exile's return; 6. The prize; 7. Wartime; 8. Losing battles; 9. Pearl Sydenstricker. Peter Conn's fine book, at once scholarly and readable, should do much to awaken awareness of her [Buck's] significant place in twentieth century American history....Drawing on his academic training in American Studies, he sets the events of her life against a rich background of Chinese and American political and social history. The impressive range of his research can be seen in the extensive notes, which fill almost seventy pages....His richly detailed and informative book should do much to encourage the reassessment of the life of this remarlƒ!