The second of Buck's more than 70 books, The Good Earth has shaped American attitudes toward China and its people for many years. A modern classic presented in this edition with critical notes and a long introduction, it won her the Pulitzer Prize upon its publication in 1931. Drawing heavily on her personal experience as a young newlywed in rural China, it is the plainly told story of a poor farmer and his stalwart wife. The book captures the daily life of China's poorest people, very different from the usual exotica that most writers of her day were producing on the "inscrutable Chinese."  (CHN15, $14.00)