Synopsis
A take-off on "The Wizard of Oz," "Wicked" describes the attempt of a witch named Elphaba to live forthrightly in a totalitarian Oz.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1995-10-01 | | Illustrator: | Douglas Smith | | Edition Description: | Illustrated |
| Size | | Length: | 406 pages | | Height: | 9.3 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 23.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
Following the traditions of Gabriel García Marquez, John Gardner and J.R.R. Tolkien, Wicked is a richly woven tale that takes us to the other, darker side of the rainbow as novelist Gregory Maguire chronicles the Wicked Witch of the West's odyssey through the complex world of Oz -- where people call you wicked if you tell the truth. Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin -- no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or to overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. But Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters the university in Shiz, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz's most promising young citizens. Elphaba's Oz is no utopia. The Wizard's secret police are everywhere. Animals -- those creatures with voices, souls and minds -- are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals -- even it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Even wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas. In Wicked, Gregory Maguire has taken the largely unknown world of Oz and populated it with the power of his own imagination. Fast-paced, fantastically real and supremely entertaining, this is a novel of vision and re-vision. Oz never will be the same again.
Industry Reviews
"I fell quickly and totally under the spell of this remarkable, wry, and fully realized story....Elphaba--the Wicked Witch of the West--is as scary as ever, but this time in a different way; She's undeniably human. She's us."
Wally Lamb
"A glorious frolic, a feast of language, a study of good and evil, and a massive history of the fabulous land of Oz."
Jane Langton
"Funny and serious, pulsing with imaginative energy and encompassing political thriller and moral reflection, this is truly a fabulous novel."
Press Materials - Jill P. Walsh
"Starting with the 'Wizard of Oz' material, Gregory Maguire has added greater depths and different facets, creating something altogether different and unique. It's a magnificent work, a genuine tour de force."
Press Materials - Lloyd Alexander
"Would that all books with this much innate consumer appeal were also this good. And vice versa."
Los Angeles Times Book Review - Robert Rodi (10/29/1996)
"[The heroine's] journey...is a captivating, funny, and perceptive look at destiny, personal responsibility, and the not-always-clashing beliefs of faith and magic."
Kirkus Reviews (08/15/1996)
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