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Jan 23, 2011

David rated it:

Once upon a time there lived a Golden Age gay icon, who whiled away her pre-waxing years sitting atop a split-rail fence in some dour, nondescript American Midwest landscape. Her dreams of a more outrageously fierce existence in the big city (wearing roller skates and one-foot-diameter afro wigs and dancing to Army of Lovers in between lines of blow) were hemmed in on all sides by rusted farm equipment, NAPA Auto Parts Stores, and a lone, dejected Applebee’s out on the turnpike. Kansas didn’t e More...

25 comments like (46 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2010

Bird Brian rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

17 comments like (17 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2011

Chandra rated it:

As lovely as this is it is not the edition I would recommend as a reading copy. For that I recommend either an old beat up paper back (my personal favorite) or one of the lovely Books of Wonder reissues. This edition, however, is for the truly obsessed Oz enthusiast. The information in this book goes above and beyond that which might be interesting to the casual reader.

Contained within this volume you will find:

-An almost 100 page introduction which includes a biogra More...

13 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Amy rated it:

I had not only watched the well known Wizard of Oz movie with Judy Garland first, but I'd also read the Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, as well as seen the Broadway musical of Wicked, before getting a chance to read this classic. Well, that's not entirely true, when I was young, my grandfather had started to read the book to me and my brother, but unfortunately we never finished it before my brother and I grew too old to be patient while someone read to us. At any ra More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Rachel rated it:

Unfortunately I couldn't find the edition I have. This is due in large part to the fact that many of my books were once my parents and grandparents (I have the entire Nancy Drew collection from the 50's).

The Wizard of Oz series changed my life immensley. In second grade I was Dorothy for Halloween. However, everyone was confused by my silver shoes. Way to be, MGM! In sixth grade I dressed up as Ozma of Oz in a giant green ballgown and poppies in my hair. Everyone thought I was More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2012

Jason rated it:

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2011

Dania rated it:

I wanted to read this book to see how different it is from the film version (a staple of every American childhood). It is very different, but then again, I expected Hollywood to take a piece (or in this case, several pieces) of literature and manipulate it into something completely different and commercial, but commercial in a good way. I love the film. I like the book. Some surprises (spoiler alert): Dorothy was actually a small child in the book. The slippers were not made from rubies. The Tin More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

rhea rated it:

Another book for school and it was fun once again to read. I learned a little time period stuff in this section of the class, but since I had just reread this last summer for fun, I hadn't really forgotten anything from the book.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 05, 2011

Mel rated it:

It certainly is one of the greatest fairly tales ever written. Very fun to read, the movie adaptation didn't really follow the entirety of the book but still it was very enjoyable and it reminds you of your childhood.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Mimi rated it:

I’ve seen the movie more times than I could ever count. I’ve read Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch (not A Lion Among Men yet, although it is on my list) and I’ve seen the Broadway production of Wicked twice. Heck, I’ve even experienced the bizarre synchronicity of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz! (if you’ve never seen this, check it out on YouTube starting here -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw9sSL48Hw4 – coi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 20, 2009

ஐ Briansgirl "Book Sale Queen"ஐ rated it:

A Populist Parable: When I opened my old used copy of this book, an aged newspaper clipping fell out of the back of it. As best as I can tell its from an old Sarpy County (Omaha World Herald?) Nebraska newspaper, and it was written by Peter Dreier. Here's what he said:

Whether they are fans of Judy Garland and "Over the Rainbow" or prefer the current $20million black film with Diana Ross and "No Bad News," almost all Americans know the characters from "The More...

5 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2008

Wendi rated it:

What a fantastic read! I read this book during my first week of Christmas vacation while I sick and puking from stomach flu. Dorothy is so smart. I love that L. Frank Baum didn't make her some doofy little girl (like Stephanie Meyers did with Bella in Twilight - Steph, read Wizard of Oz and smarten up your girls!). Such a good book. I love how strong and capable all the characters were and yet they let little things make them self-concious. But then when needed their powers came out. The Tin Woo More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2011

Lynne rated it:

I had never read the actual book of The Wizard of Oz, but I had the Annotated Oz sitting around from when I got it from the Quality Paperbook Book Club a few years ago (Along with the Annotated Alice). So in a way I read 2 books. hah. Anyway, AMAZING book. I started becoming interested in the original Oz stories after reading Wicked at the end of last year. This book has about 100 pages of introductory material, follwed by the story with annotations, and then followed by an appendix with works b More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2010

Kate rated it:

I'm reading this because I'm teaching it in my Literature and Film course, in which we are reading novels and watching the corresponding films, and discussing adaptation. The theme of the course is: Journeys and Transformations. Thought this book, coupled with the film, would be a good place to begin discussion about archetypes of journeys and home.

The other books/films we are doing are listed here:

http://beingandwriting.blogspot.com/2010...

And I've since ad More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2009

Marcella rated it:

I listened to the audio version of this one. I found the differences between the book and the movie interesting. This is probably the only story that I have "read" and seen the movie and felt the movie was better than the book. The reader may have had something to do with it though. I found many of the character's voices annoying.
It would be a good story to read chapter by chapter with a young child though.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 18, 2008

Longfellow rated it:

Touted for its innovative tale-telling for children (particularly its American viewpoint), WWoO is now a testament to the evolution of children's literature since 1900.

I was excited to read this in preparation for reading MaGuire's Wicked, and I breezed through the first 100+ pages the night I opened it. The scenes of the first half were all quite familiar to me, but the second half was less so, and its simplistic, episodic conflict-resolution formula for each chapter failed to make More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Lize rated it:

The original from 1900, and the one they based the movie on. Baum's writing is like poetry in places, and the imagery is so powerful. Lots of nightmarish details in the best Grimm's tradition that they left out of the film, like giant spiders, the Hammer-Heads and delicate china people, the Wicked Witch of the West only has one eye (and sends wolves, crows and black bees to kill the travelers), and the Tin Man used to be a real man, but his enchanted ax cut off his limbs one by one and they we More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 06, 2009

Katie rated it:

I thought it interesting that in the foreword Baum says he didn't want this to be violent like the fairytales of the past... and yet, a little girl transports to a strange land, kills the first person she meets, and teams up with three strangers to kill again. They also kill various creatures on their path of destruction.
Perhaps we could savor all the violence but have a much more abridged version with the following:

More...

5 comments like (17 people liked it)

May 05, 2011

Mary added it

Oh, we are finding out all sorts of things by finally reading this, such as:

there are 4 witches, not 3
Auntie Em was mean, hardened by grey winters
there are creatures called Kalidahs, much more terrifying than
flying monkeys
and, the biggest surprise: the ruby red slippers were SILVER.
Shockah.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 19, 2009

Greg of A2 rated it:

I had planned on reading several books in this series (well at least the first three) but got off-track somehow (of course if you knew me, you'd know that isn't unusual). Not a bad story and the Scarecrow comes off a little better than was portrayed in the famous movie version. But I really want to read Baum's other books in this series (particularly The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz) as I loved the wonderful 1985 film version of them entitled "Return to Oz."

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 10, 2011

Stacy rated it:

I recently watched the movie "The Wizard of Oz" staring Judy Garland (a great classic!). I then read all about it on Wikipedia and found all sorts of fascinating trivia and facts about the movie and actors. I then decided to read the book on which the movie is based. It's been fun to see the differences between the book and movie. For instance, in the book Dorothy's shoes are silver but in the movie they are ruby red (they used red because it would have more of a visual impact on viewe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 15, 2011

Mckinley rated it:

This contains the drawings of W. W. Denslow along with many, many footnotes, historical material, etc. Also pictures of productions of the Wizard of Oz.
Never having read the story before I am a bit overwhelmed with all the side notes to other editions, versions, and books in the series. Also the story does vary from the Hollywood movie with Judy Garland quite a bit.
Quiet a simple and easy read.
I have found myself thinking of this book off and on for the last several days sin More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 07, 2011

Pamela marked it as to-read

I found this book on the library shelves when I was in El Paso this summer. I was really enjoying it, but my schedule while there made my progress slow and I haven't yet had the time (work) and energy (illness) to see if it's available in the Tucson library. I definitely hope to finish this book, as I found it to be a fascinating glimpse into Baum's life and writings that went far beyond other biographical essays I've read about him. I also appreciated the insight into the different artists and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 05, 2011

Natalie rated it:

It was fun to read the annotated version, though it took longer to read all the notes than to read the text itself. I enjoyed discovering the author's use of color -- primary colors for each of the kingdoms and secondary colors where the kingdoms touched or overlapped; Kansas was gray, of course. I also enjoyed learning how much the traditions of classic quest literature influenced Baum, as well as the events of his own life and losses in his own family. I have lots of little details to watch More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 04, 2011

Patricia rated it:

It has the all the faciful imagination of Alice in Wonderland except that this book has coherently linked events. I thought that the lack of description allowed for my own imagination to do some work. Although there were times when I had a difficult time envisioning events because the descriptions were very bare.

I don't have a lot to say about this book. Other than it can be read in an afternoon. I can also say it is extrememly different from the movie. I really hated the movie, but th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Mark rated it:

Although the famous song from the 1939 movie doesn't appear anywhere in the book, I am still reminded of the song everytime I look at this book, such is the profound influence of the movie.[return][return]Dorothy and her dog Toto are in their house in Kansas when it is swept away in a hurricane. When the hurricane stops, they find that they have been transported to a magical world. A world of two evil witches and two good witches, a land of Munchkins, Quadlings, Hammer-Heads and Winged Monkeys.[ More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Orr added it

'No matter how dreary and grey our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.'

The Scarecrow sighed.

'Of course I cannot understand it,' he said. 'If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.'"

(L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

The first h More...

0 comments like

Jul 27, 2011

Ubalstecha added it

There are many children's classics from the early 1900s that don't stand up to the test of time. Instead they are snapshots of the time in which they are written. The Wizard of Oz may be the greatest classic written at this time. So it would be fair to think that it would be the greatest disappointment.

Not so.

This may have more to do with the genius that was L. Frank Baum. When Baum created his fantasy calssic, it wasn't like the other children's books at the time. Due to this, he had pro More...

0 comments like

May 10, 2011

Kate rated it:

This book is a classic. It has great use of fantasy. I would use it as a read-a-loud with my students. Touching on realistic vs fantasy.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 29, 2009

Donald rated it:

I don't think I've ever read this one. I remember the movie though; it is the only one I know that used color as a special effect, with the land of Oz in color and Kansas as it should be. In the book, Kansas is a gray place. So it was fitting that it be in black and white on film. This might have been my first experience with horror also; those winged monkeys terrified me. To think that something could swoop from the sky and scoop one up was really scary.

There are a few notable diffe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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