When you picture the FBI, what do you think of? Guys in bad suits and Ray-Bans, flashing their I.Ds and their loaded pistols in their holsters, screaming "FBI, get down!" to the bad guys. Drama, suspense, intrigue. Do-gooders who put all the pieces together in the puzzle and bring order back. Yes, certainly this is the case. And no more so than their recent brilliant sleuthing efforts--recovering the lost manuscript of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. 

Apparently, one of Buck's ex-secretaries stole the manuscript, and the thief's daughter tried to sell it at an auction house. Not too smooth, thief's daughter! Did you really think you could get away with putting something up for auction that is both famous and stolen? What, there were no original copies of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that you could steal from his heirs and sell on eBay?

Well luckily the manuscript, which has Buck's handwritten notes, is back in the hands of its proper owner.

What a relief! (And no, that wasn't sarcasm--it's an awesome book.) The story about a poor Chinese farmer who must sell everything--except his land--to survive has been a classic since is was published in 1932. It was even selected as a choice for Oprah's Book Club in 2004. Now that's staying power!

Come on, you know you read the book in school. And you know you liked it, which isn't always the case of required reading books. (Sorry, Mrs. Gazzola, but I didn't like everything you made me read in tenth grade.) And if you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? (Just, please, don't steal it! Unless you want the FBI coming after you.)