false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166307053m/10750.jpg 37442 30 <P>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&ndash;nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? </P><P> Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. <i>Wicked</i> is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first&ndash;class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle&ndash;class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green&ndash;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. </P> 1479280 1995 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years, #1) total:82290|5:16423|4:24216|3:21829|2:11780|1:8042| 82290 276068 107707 10248 0 79 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Jan 25 10:11:11 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 22 06:52:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 56 false false Sat Apr 26 22:17:14 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 26 08:00:34 -0800 2007 Sat Apr 26 22:16:16 -0700 2008
The biggest di...more...]]> 0 32 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Aug 02 13:51:34 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 02 13:52:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 28 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 27 12:58:36 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 27 13:11:54 -0700 2007 I never pretended to like the new trilogy. It could have been a n...more...]]> 1 49 false false Fri Dec 07 08:08:42 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 07 08:18:25 -0800 2007
Things That I Really Wish Gregory Maguire Had Bothered To Explain That Might Have Made Wicked Worth Reading:
-Why Elphaba is green
-Why Elphaba cannot touch water
-The "Philosophy Club" which s...more...]]> 2 22 false false Mon Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Fri Jan 11 11:07:52 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 11:40:14 -0800 2008
As is evident from my star-rating, I can't say that I liked this book. I did rea...more...]]> 4 17 false false Tue May 13 00:11:49 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 00:12:20 -0700 2008
Have you ever read a popular book and wondered why it was so popular? That's exactly how I felt as I worked my way through WICKED. Actually, that's not entirely true. I know why it's a New York Times Bestseller. Part of it has to do with...more...]]> 5 18 false false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Fri Jun 22 08:23:41 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 18:26:18 -0700 2007
The brilliance behind Magu...more...]]> 2 12 false false Sat Dec 01 06:42:10 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 01 06:42:28 -0800 2007
The backstory dragged on for far too long. Of course, I wouldn't complain if the backstory had ...more...]]> 2 10 false false Fri Apr 18 22:00:57 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 22:32:07 -0700 2008 Wicked, but found it perplexing.

Maguire's Oz is a complex, political society, and his Wicked Witch Elphaba and her contemporaries are fascinating, moving, original characters--but the landscape and people are so far removed from their base story that the purpose of th...more...]]> 4 15 false false Tue Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jul 15 17:27:10 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 16 11:06:29 -0800 2008
For starters, there are sev...more...]]> 4 12 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 22:25:12 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 23:21:46 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 9 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 07:32:58 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 18 09:29:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 8 false true Sat Sep 29 09:55:37 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 02 22:04:17 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 5 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Fri Oct 12 12:47:26 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 12 13:26:46 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 4 false false Fri Jun 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 16:23:53 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 07:46:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 4 false true Sun Jun 22 08:51:35 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 08:52:36 -0700 2008
OK, so I read the book thinking it would be good preparation for possibly seeing the musical while it's in Chicago. Now I'm not so sure, though I'm told the musical is vastly different from the book. I'm guessing I'm no more prepared than I was before I started.

...more...]]> 4 4 false false Wed Mar 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 22 13:29:47 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 27 07:56:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 5 false false Tue Feb 27 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Feb 25 18:02:16 -0800 2008 Thu Jun 05 12:00:43 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 5 false false Fri Aug 29 11:04:59 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 29 11:08:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=10750