Beyond the Good Earth: Transnational Perspectives on Pearl Buck edited by Jay Cole and John R. Haddad

Pearl Buck is renowned for her best-selling and important novel, The Good Earth (1931) based on her experience living in China with missionary parents. For her work she was awarded both a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize!  It is not well known that she was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia and also wrote biographies of both of her West Virginia parents or that she was an activist for human rights. This book of essays is an attempt to familiarize readers with all aspects of Pearl Buck’s career. Notably, it includes two essays by Chinese scholars, as well as essays from American experts in many of the fields where Pearl Buck contributed. “The strength of this collection lies in the breadth and variety of the subjects discussed, from US foreign policy to literary and political controversies in China to Pearl Buck’s accomplishments and influence as a writer and as a social and political activist. Taken collectively, these essays provide a rewarding survey.” - Peter Conn. Jay Cole is a member of t