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Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973)

Author of The Good Earth

331+ Works 32,733 Members 594 Reviews 75 Favorited

About the Author

Pearl S. Buck, June 26, 1892 - March 6, 1973 Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was an American author, best know for her novels about China. Buck was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia, but as the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries she was taken to China in infancy. She received her early show more education in Shanghai, but returned to the United States to attend college, and graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia in 1914. Buck became a university teacher there and married John Lossing Buck, an agricultural economist, in 1917. Buck and her husband both taught in China, and she published magazine articles about life there. Her first novel East Wind, West Wind was published in 1930. Buck achieved international success with The Good Earth, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. This story of a Chinese peasant family's struggle for survival was later made into a MGM film. Buck resigned from the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions after publishing an article that was critical of missionaries. She returned to the United States because of political unrest in China. Buck's novels during this period include Sons, A House Divided, and The Mother. She also wrote biographies of her father (Fighting Angel) and her mother (The Exile). She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. During her career, Buck published over 70 books: novels, nonfiction, story collections, children's books, and translations from the Chinese. She also wrote under the pseudonym John Sedges. In the United States, Buck was active in the civil rights and women's rights movements. In 1942 she founded the East and West Association to promote understanding between Asia and the West. In 1949, Buck established Welcome House, the first international interracial adoption agency. In 1964, she established the Pearl S. Buck foundation to sponsor support for Amerasian children who were not considered adoptable. Pearl Buck died in Danbury, Vermont, on March 6, 1973. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Pearl S. Buck at the time of her winning the Nobel Prize

Series

Works by Pearl S. Buck

The Good Earth (1931) 13,779 copies
The Big Wave (1948) 2,541 copies
Pavilion of Women (1946) 1,260 copies
Imperial Woman (1956) 1,193 copies
Peony (1948) 923 copies
Dragon Seed (1942) 874 copies
East Wind, West Wind (1929) 779 copies
Sons (1932) 687 copies
The Living Reed (1963) 591 copies
A House Divided (1934) 562 copies
Christmas Day in the Morning (1955) 529 copies
Mandala (1970) 494 copies
The Mother (1930) 483 copies
Kinfolk (1949) 356 copies
The Story Bible (1971) 321 copies
Letter from Peking (1957) 301 copies
My Several Worlds (1954) 295 copies
The Exile (1936) 287 copies
The Patriot (1939) 266 copies
The Hidden Flower (1952) 258 copies
Portrait of a Marriage (1948) 221 copies
Fighting Angel (1936) 217 copies
The Promise (1943) 185 copies
Come, My Beloved (1953) 180 copies
Death in the Castle (1965) 170 copies
A Bridge for Passing (1946) 167 copies
God's men (1951) 166 copies
The Time is Noon (1966) 165 copies
The New Year (1968) 160 copies
The Eternal Wonder (2013) 157 copies
This Proud Heart (1938) 143 copies
The Angry Wife (1946) 135 copies
The Child Who Never Grew (1950) 128 copies
The Goddess Abides (1972) 121 copies
The Townsman (1900) 107 copies
Command the Morning (1959) 106 copies
The Long Love (1949) — Author — 81 copies
Fourteen Stories (1960) 77 copies
China Sky (1942) 77 copies
All Under Heaven (1900) 77 copies
The Rainbow (1974) 76 copies
Fairy Tales of the Orient (1900) 66 copies
China Flight (1937) 59 copies
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck [graphic novel] (2017) — Original author — 56 copies
Other Gods (1940) 52 copies
Voices in the House (1953) 51 copies
Satan Never Sleeps (1962) — Author — 44 copies
The Kennedy Women (1970) 44 copies
Once upon a Christmas (1950) 33 copies
East and West: Stories (1975) 24 copies
To My Daughters, with Love (1967) 23 copies
A Pearl Buck Reader, Vol. 2 (1959) 22 copies
Bright Procession (1952) 20 copies
The Dragon Fish (1944) 20 copies
The Christmas Ghost (1960) 19 copies
The Water-Buffalo Children (1943) 19 copies
The Young Revolutionist (1932) 18 copies
A Pearl Buck Reader, Vol. 1 (1985) 17 copies
Of Men and Women (1941) 17 copies
China Past and Present (1972) 16 copies
Words of Love (1974) 16 copies
The People of Japan (1966) 16 copies
Pearl Buck's America (1971) 14 copies
The Beech Tree (1974) 13 copies
Pearl S. Buck, 1938 (1987) 12 copies
The Good Earth [abridged] (1980) 11 copies
Omnibus 11 copies
A Gift for the Children (1973) 11 copies
The Spirit and the Flesh (1946) 10 copies
The Chinese Story Teller (1971) 10 copies
Obras escogidas (1931) 9 copies
One Bright Day (1950) 8 copies
China Gold (1947) 7 copies
The Big Fight (1965) 7 copies
Satan Never Sleeps [1962 film] (1962) — Writer — 7 copies
The Old Demon (1982) 7 copies
Twenty-Seven Stories (1943) 6 copies
Die beiden Schwestern (1966) 6 copies
Mrs. Starling's Problem (1973) 6 copies
China Trilogy (1947) 6 copies
China As I See It (1954) 6 copies
Welcome Child (1963) 5 copies
Journey for life (1943) 5 copies
The Enemy (1986) 5 copies
Genug für ein Leben (1959) — Author — 4 copies
The China I Knew (1990) 4 copies
China (1978) 4 copies
Children for Adoption (1964) 4 copies
Kinfolk, Part 1 3 copies
The Chinese Novel (1974) 3 copies
Novelas. II 3 copies
A Certain Star (1957) 2 copies
Orhideja 2 copies
Novelas IV 2 copies
Novelas. I 2 copies
Altri Dei 2 copies
American Argument (1950) 2 copies
Children and the World (1977) 2 copies
Pavilion of Women, Part 2 (1977) 2 copies
KIRIK ÜMİTLER 2 copies
Soehne 1 copy
Vlastenec 1 copy
THE EXILE. 1 copy
Bambuskottet 1 copy
L'esule (2021) 1 copy
Ema : romaan 1 copy
Mübarek Toprak (2023) 1 copy
Cielo cinese 1 copy
Mándalá 1 copy
The Exhile 1 copy
Orkide 1 copy
Jezna žena 1 copy
Ponosno srce 1 copy
Novelas 1 copy
Ein Stern am Himmel (2005) 1 copy
Stories of China (1941) 1 copy
Amor (1960) 1 copy
Imperial Woman, Part 2 (1977) 1 copy
Opere 1 copy
Novelas : V 1 copy
No title 1 copy
සරුබිම (2007) 1 copy
O Patríota 1 copy
الأم 1 copy
ÄITI 1 copy
Peónia 1 copy

Associated Works

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (1932) — Introduction — 1,330 copies
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 452 copies
Pearl Buck in China: Journey to The Good Earth (2010) — Associated Name, some editions — 330 copies
My Country and My People (1938) — Introduction, some editions — 216 copies
Best Loved Books for Young Readers 02 (1876) — Contributor — 167 copies
Short Stories from the Strand (1992) — Contributor — 139 copies
Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old (2002) — Contributor — 112 copies
Great American Mystery Stories of the 20th Century (1989) — Contributor — 73 copies
Great Tales of Mystery and Suspense (1981) — Contributor — 62 copies
The Arbor House Treasury of Mystery and Suspense (1981) — Contributor — 52 copies
O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1943 (1943) — Contributor — 48 copies
Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1955 v01 (1955) — Contributor — 26 copies
The Seas of God: Great Stories of the Human Spirit (1944) — Contributor — 25 copies
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1948) — Foreword — 20 copies
Currents in Fiction (1974) — Contributor — 20 copies
The Good Earth [1937 film] (1937) — Original book — 20 copies
The Writer's Book (1950) — Contributor — 19 copies
Garden to order (1963) — Introduction — 18 copies
Pearl S. Buck: A Biography (1969) — Contributor — 18 copies
The Panorama of Modern Literature (1934) — Contributor — 14 copies
Nobel Writers on Writing (2000) — Contributor — 14 copies
A Treasury of Doctor Stories (1946) — Contributor — 9 copies
Lady of Beauty (1998) — Foreword — 7 copies
Voiceless India — Introduction — 5 copies
Life Styles (2001) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Word Lives On: A Treasury of Spiritual Fiction (1951) — Contributor — 4 copies
Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1952 v03 (1953) — Contributor — 4 copies
Our Family — Introduction — 4 copies
Ten Great Stories: A New Anthology (1945) — Contributor — 2 copies
Writer's Roundtable (1959) 2 copies
Im Kerzenschein. Geschichten zum Träumen — Contributor — 2 copies
The Big Wave [1961 film] — Original novel — 2 copies
The Avon Annual: 18 Great Story of Today (1944) — Contributor — 1 copy
O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1934 (1934) — Contributor — 1 copy
O Pioneers! / The Great Gatsby / The Good Earth (1989) — Contributor — 1 copy
Reader's Digest 4 in 1 The New Year etc. — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

20th century (311) American (157) American literature (327) anthology (146) Asia (310) biography (236) children (87) China (2,286) Chinese (90) Christmas (144) classic (548) classic literature (81) classics (495) ebook (134) family (183) fiction (3,628) hardcover (80) historical (158) historical fiction (1,022) history (197) Japan (191) Kindle (153) Korea (74) literature (491) mystery (163) Newbery Medal (91) Nobel Prize (144) non-fiction (134) novel (518) own (132) Pearl S. Buck (213) Pulitzer (111) Pulitzer Prize (170) read (223) Roman (252) short stories (240) to-read (1,162) unread (196) USA (76) women (129)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Buck, Pearl S.
Legal name
Buck, Pearl Sydenstricker
Other names
Zhenzhu,Sai
Sedges, John
Sydenstricker, Pearl Comfort (birth name)
Birthdate
1892-06-26
Date of death
1973-03-06
Burial location
Green Hills Farm, Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA
Gender
female
Nationality
USA (birth)
Birthplace
Hillsboro, West Virginia, USA
Place of death
Danby, Vermont, USA
Cause of death
cancer (lung)
Places of residence
Zhenjiang, China
Nanjing, China
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
Education
Randolph-Macon Woman's College (AB|1914 ∙ Classics)
Cornell University (MA|1926)
Occupations
novelist
teacher
Relationships
Spurling, Hilary (biographer)
Organizations
American Academy of Arts and Letters (1936)
Presbyterian Church in the United States
Kappa Delta
Founder East and West Association (1942)
Founder Welcome House (1949)
Founder Pearl S. Buck Foundation (1964)
Awards and honors
Nobel Prize (Literature, 1938)
Pulitzer Prize (1932)
Short biography
Pearl Sydenstricker was the daughter of Southern Presbyterian missionaries. She spent much of her life in China, though she graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia. From childhood she was bilingual in English and Chinese. She married an agricultural economist named John Lossing Buck in 1917, and together they lived in rural Anhwei province, an impoverished area. Her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Good Earth, and other stories set in China are based on what she learned while living there. In 1935, after divorcing John Buck, Pearl married publisher Richard Walsh. In 1938, Buck became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. She is buried at Green Hills Farm, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

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Discussions

Found: Children's Book about Giant Wave in Japan in Name that Book (December 2022)

Reviews

This has been on my "must read" list since I first visited the Peal Buck House Museum in Bucks County. This was also a part of my husband's Grandmother's Library Collection we acquired at her death. Very interesting story. The journey of a young woman who becomes a concubine rising to Empress. The decisions and manipulation she administered in her rise to power. Engrossing read. I don't know how much of this story is based on actual fact or if it is a total fictionalization of the Empress's life. A definite good read.… (more)
 
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booklovers2 | 25 other reviews | Jan 18, 2024 |

Lists

1950s (1)
Asia (1)
1930s (2)
1940s (1)

Awards

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Arthur Train Contributor
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Feodor Dostoyevsky Contributor
Guy de Maupassant Contributor
Anthony Trollope Contributor
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Andrea Damiano Translator
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Statistics

Works
331
Also by
72
Members
32,733
Popularity
#591
Rating
3.9
Reviews
594
ISBNs
1,106
Languages
29
Favorited
75

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