Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (2007, Mass Market)

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This is the book that started it all! The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguires 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 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.

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherHarperCollins
ISBN-100061350966
ISBN-139780061350962
eBay Product ID (ePID)58916418

Product Key Features

Book TitleWicked : the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Number of Pages560 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2007
TopicClassics, Fantasy / General, Fantasy / Contemporary, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology
IllustratorYes
GenreFiction
AuthorGregory Maguire
Book SeriesWicked Years Ser.
FormatMass Market

Dimensions

Item Height1.1 in
Item Weight9.1 Oz
Item Length6.8 in
Item Width4.2 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade
Dewey Edition22
Reviews"Maguire did something truly remarkable with this novel, in managing to inhabit, enlarge, deepen and find new dimensions in a world that had been invented by another writer, and in doing so make something entirely new. It's an astonishing achievement." -- Philip Pullman "Gregory gets the complications and uniqueness of women very well." -- Kristen Chenoweth "At the heart of this remarkable, unforgettable novel is a wildly original premise-- one that only a writer with Gregory Maguire's intellect and daring could have dreamed up: that the Wicked Witch of the West was a real woman, with an actual name, and her own story to tell. It was radical when Gregory first wrote it, and remains radical. It has the power to reshape one's view of the world." -- Winnie Holzman, co-writer of Wicked: The Musical "Long before there was any thought of a musical, I read Wicked. I felt a quiet joy that sisterhood had made its way to the Yellow Brick Road. What happens when a witch, green or otherwise, gets to tell her own story instead of being vilified and misrepresented by dominant cultural authority? We witches know how that turns out!" -- Holly Near "I knew that Gregory Maguire had come up with a genius idea the moment I heard about Wicked. It's a book that has changed a lot of lives, including mine." -- Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist of Wicked: The Musical, "... [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." (School Library Journal)
Series Volume Number1
Dewey Decimal813.54
SynopsisThe New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire's Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination. 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 overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz's most promising young citizens. But 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 if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever 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. Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name--one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel's distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire's Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch., 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., The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire's Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination. 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 overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz's most promising young citizens. But 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 if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever 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. Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name--one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel's distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire's Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch., This "New York Times" bestseller--the basis of the Tony Award]-winning musical "Wicked"--introduces Elphaba, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West in Oz. Now, her side of the story is told., 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 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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  • Sorry I wasted my time reading these books

    The writing was good , although he used words I didn't know, He would go on and on about things that did not matter and when it got to the plot there was no suspense , and what ever was happening, the cliff hanger was only 1 sentence long , how ever a walk through the park or something trivial would go on page after page. . I read both books and hoped he would connect the stories in the first book with the second book , and although they were the same characters the flow was unnerving . He left to many loose ends.

    Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned

  • Pages bent but came w bookmark thank you

    Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned

  • WICKED is awesome!

    I am a WICKED geek. I read the book over 10 years ago, and need to reread it. The book is in great shape and arrived in a timely manner.

    Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned

  • Thank you so much. I appreciate the extra protection from weather :)

    Thank you so much. I appreciate the extra protection from weather :)

    Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned