This is the book that started it all! The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire’s breathtaking New York Times bestseller Wicked views the land of Oz, its inhabitants, its Wizard, and the Emerald City, through a darker and greener (not rosier) lens. Brilliantly inventive, Wicked offers us a radical new evaluation of one of the most feared and hated characters … feared and hated characters in all of literature: the much maligned Wicked Witch of the West who, as Maguire tells us, wasn’t nearly as Wicked as we imagined.
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An outstanding look behind the Curtain in Oz. Maguire’s take on Frank Baum’s creation of Oz thoroughly fleshes out the land of mystery that Dorothy lands on. The mystery of the Green Witch is told from onset. We are left to wonder: “who are the real villains?”, as the story progresses. She may be green and the others not, but everything winds …
I enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put it down, and I was sorry to see it end.
Truly one of the most original books I’ve ever read. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was exquisitely well-written and truly made the world of the Wizard of Oz a viable, realistic world. The Wicked Witch had depth and complexity and was, yes, misunderstood. The story was not a light-hearted romp. Halfway through something tragic happens to …
One of my all time favorites!! I recommended it for a freshmen orientation read at the university where I worked. I think readers bring their life perspective and reflections into the readings which makes for great cross-cultural, cross-class , across gender roles discussions about society past, present and future.
Based on the world created by L. Frank Baum, Maguire takes a character that gets little love and turns her from villain to a sort of anti-hero and, in the process articulates a deeper discussion of what constitutes good and/or evil.
If you saw or heard the musical, be aware this is a different experience. But it is worth the investment of time to …
The book series is unique and interesting as you experience the life of the wicked witch. Elphaba has become one of my favorite, misunderstood, fictional villians.
dont expect it to be like the broadway play 🙂
What a fun twist on a classic!
Read this book after seeing the musical and expected it to be like the musical, I have never been so wrong in my life. Still a wonderful book albeit slow at the beginning. Stick with it, you will not regret it. Highly recommend this book!
I loved the book. I am a big fan of wicked. I was told I would like it to.
Read a long time ago, and just downloaded so I can read again.
I thought this book had a lot of potential but it was torturous to finish. A lot of it didn’t make sense to me.
I LOVED the musical , so I thought I would enjoy the book, and it started off fine, until I was disgusted when humans were having sexual relations with animals. So I stopped reading it after that.
I was so looking forward to reading this. My expectations were based on the musical. I prefer the musical. While it was interesting to see the differences between the two… but wow, Wicked had things I think Oz could have done without. Like,um, I dunno, the bar/drug/sex den? I mean really was that even necessary?
I read the hard cover many years ago. Now I’ll read the electronic book. As I’m an avid fan of the author and of anything OZ I love this tale from the witches viewpoint of the the story we all know so well! As is true to life, there’s always another side of the story, and here it is!
Wonderful take on the story! It was interesting to see the wicked witches’ interpretation.
Wow! Not what I was expecting at all! Very well done. Kind of weird and sad but I couldn’t put it down.
Quite a unique twist on an old story.
The book is much better than the musical, but much sadder. It’s a great twist on the Wizard of Oz story where Dorothy is only an incidental character.
New look on the Wiserd of Oz