PEARL S. BUCK - AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT SIGNED - HFSID 14087

PEARL S. BUCK
This undated manuscript - handwritten and signed "P.S.B." by Buck - is a book review of John W. Vauderwork's King Cane, An Epic of Sugar. Buck praises the book and Hawaii's sugar industry, which she writes is "an almost perfect picture of what can and should be done in a modern industry". This document reveals a facet of Buck's life forgotten by many: reviewer and essay writer.
Autograph manuscript signed "P. S. B.", with editorial marks and corrections. 1 page, 8½x11, on ruled paper. Titled: "King Cane, An Epic of Sugar, byby John W. Vanderwork". This is a book review of King Cane, An Epic of Sugar. Buck praises the book as an "idyl [sic] of a modern industry, beautifully written and well illustrated". She also praises the Hawaiian sugar industry, which she calls "an almost perfect picture of what can and should be done in a modern industry", but warns that it's under threat from judicial rulings and cheap imported sugar. Buck wrote essays and reviews for magazines like Asia (which she also edited), The Nation, The Chinese Review and Atlantic Monthly. Buck (1892-1973, born Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker in Hillsboro, West Virginia), born to Presbyterian missionaries, spent the first forty years of her life in China, the setting of many of her books. She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1938). Best known for her novels about China (including The Good Earth; 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), Buck wrote over 70 novels as well as biographies, an autobiography (My Several Worlds, 1954), dramas, children's literature and translations from the Chinese. Lightly toned and creased. Three torn binder holes on left edge. Small piece of lower right corner is torn off. Small tears along edges. Otherwise in fine condition.