Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Harper Fiction)
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?
Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
Product Details
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Born with green skin and huge teeth, like a dragon, the free-spirited Elphaba grows up to be an anti-totalitarian agitator, an animal-rights activist, a nun, then a nurse who tends the dying?and, ultimately, the headstrong Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. Maguire's strange and imaginative postmodernist fable uses L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a springboard to create a tense realm inhabited by humans, talking animals (a rhino librarian, a goat physician), Munchkinlanders, dwarves and various tribes. The Wizard of Oz, emperor of this dystopian dictatorship, promotes Industrial Modern architecture and restricts animals' right to freedom of travel; his holy book is an ancient manuscript of magic that was clairvoyantly located by Madam Blavatsky 40 years earlier. Much of the narrative concerns Elphaba's troubled youth (she is raised by a giddy alcoholic mother and a hermitlike minister father who transmits to her his habits of loathing and self-hatred) and with her student years. Dorothy appears only near novel's end, as her house crash-lands on Elphaba's sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, in an accident that sets Elphaba on the trail of the girl from Kansas?as well as the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and the Lion?and her fabulous new shoes. Maguire combines puckish humor and bracing pessimism in this fantastical meditation on good and evil, God and free will, which should, despite being far removed in spirit from the Baum books, captivate devotees of fantasy. 50,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; first serial to Word; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA?Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, has gotten a bum rap. Her mother is embarrassed and repulsed by her bright-green baby with shark's teeth and an aversion to water. At college, the coed experiences disapproval and rejection by her roommate, Glinda, a silly girl interested only in clothes, money, and popularity. Elphaba is a serious and inquisitive student. When she learns that the Wizard of Oz is politically corrupt and causing economic ruin, Elphaba finds a sense of purpose to her life?to stop him and to restore harmony and prosperity to the land. A Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and an unknown species called a "Dorothy" appear in very small roles... The story presents Elphaba in a sympathetic and empathetic manner-readers will want her to triumph! The conclusion, however, is the same as L. Frank Baum's. The book has both idealism and cynicism in its discussion of social, religious, educational, and political issues present in Oz, and, more pointedly, present in our day and time. The idealism is whimsical and engaging; the cynicism is biting. Sometimes the earthy language seems appropriate and adds to the sense of place; sometimes the four-letter words and sexual explicitness distract from the charm of the tale. The multiple threads to the plot proceed unevenly, so that the pace of the story jumps rather than moves steadily forward. Wicked is not an easy rereading of The Wizard of Oz. It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"... [a] magical telling of the land of Oz before and up to the arrival of Dorothy and company.... A captivating, funny, and perceptive look at destiny, personal responsibility, and the not-always-clashing beliefs of faith and magic. Save a place on the shelf between Alice and The Hobbit that spot is well deserved." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A magnificent work, a genuine tour de force." -- --Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain
"An outstanding work of imagination." -- --USA Today
"It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy." -- School Library Journal
"A magnificent work, a genuine tour de force." -- Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain
"An outstanding work of imagination." -- USA Today
"Children - children of all ages, as Maguire reminds us in this splendid novel - need witches. Gregory Maguire has taken this figure of childhood fantasy and given her a sensual and powerful nature that will stir adult hearts with fear and longing all over again. It's a brilliant trick - and a remarkable treat." -- The Times-Picayune
"It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy." -- School Library Journal
"It's a staggering feat of wordcraft, made no less so by the fact that its boundaries were set decades ago by somebody else. Maguire's larger triumph here is twofold: First, in Elphaba, he has created (re-created? renovated?) one of the great heroines in fantasy literature: a fiery, passionate, unforgettable and ultimately tragic figure. Second, Wicked is the best fantasy novel of ideas I've read since Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast or Frank Herbert's Dune. Would that all books with this much innate consumer appeal were also this good. And vice versa." -- Los Angeles Times
"Listen up, Munchkins. Stop your singing, stop the dancing. The Wicked Witch is no longer dead. But not to worry. Gregory Maguire's shrewdly imagined and beautifully written first novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," not only revives her but re-envisions and redeems her for our times." -- Newsday
Customer Reviews
Wonderful new look at an old favorite
Maguire captures a part of Oz that Baum never went into depth about -- what happened before Dorothy crash landed on the Wicked Witch?
This book raises issues about morality and ethics in such an engaging manner it's almost impossible not to be pulled into the mix.
A Wicked story from start to finish
I had no idea what to expect from Wicked.. but it certainly didn't dissapoint.
It had a few slow places through the middle, but mostly, it was spellbinding throughout. Some twists that I didn't expect, and some completely new perspectives on the entire story of the Land of Oz.
It's a good book. Just not a good Oz book.
In L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," you are asked to take it on faith that the wizard is good, Glinda is wise and the Wicked Witch of the West is evil. "Wicked" attempts to turn this on its head, with varying results.
The Oz of "Wicked" feels a bit uneven. Maguire borrows some of his Oz from the original books and some from the 1939 movie. But he discards many of the most entertaining elements (Where's the golden cap used to control the flying monkeys? Why aren't the trees alive?) and, in doing so, doesn't use the fantasy universe he's chosen to its fullest. It was as though Maguire couldn't decide if he should use Baum's Oz, MGM's Oz, or create an Oz of his own. The result is a schizophrenic land of Oz. It was aggravating for me to keep boucing back and forth between these different ideas of one place in the same book. If you're not already an Oz fan, you might not have this problem.
Having said that, "Wicked" is well-written, moves along quickly, and raises some interesting questions about good and evil. In the end, it doesn't matter that it's based on a well-known work of fiction. Elphaba begins the story as a misunderstood little girl and ends up as a woman who's eager and willing to kill an innocent for a pair of shoes. What could happen to make someone that hard-hearted? It's an interesting journey to take. On the way, you meet Elphaba's sister, who begins the book twisted due to a crippling deformity and eventually becomes the Wicked Witch of the East. You also meet Elphaba's college roommate Glinda, the witch of the north, who hides her brilliant mind and expertise at sorcery behind a shallow facade. (Unfortunately, Baum's aged Witch of the North has been written out of this version. Like I said, it's a scatter-brained land of Oz). Are these women good or evil? Or do their actions lie somewhere in between? The plot gives the reader a lot to think about.
I'd reccommend this one. Just don't expect to see a coherent land of Oz.
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