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December 15, 2003
Wicked
Three years ago while waiting for a flight to take off or land or board or get de-iced or some other air travel inconvenience, I noticed the guy next to me was reading a book with an interesting name, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. A conversation ensued and he told me how wonderful the book was and that I just had to read it. I did a few days later and Wicked instantly became one of my all-time favorite books.
The Wicked Witch of the West was my ultimate horror when I was a little kid. She absolutely scared the holy crap out of me and I just loved it. I can remember watching The Wizard of Oz on our old black and white TV with my hand perched on the channel dial. When the Witch made an appearance, I had to quickly change channels and then switch back and forth a little bit at a time. I just could not handle her in large doses and those small doses gave me nightmares for several days. What an awful woman! I was doubly freaked when I first saw her on a color TV and learned that she was green. Ick.
Maguire's book put a wonderfully woven history behind her and creatively explained a lot of the things that I had always wondered about her. Like, where did those flying monkeys come from? Why is she so green? What's she so pissed about? What's up with those slippers?
Now, my favorite book is a musical on Broadway starring Kristin Chenowith as Glinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. It's playing at the Gershwin in NYC. If I can figure out a way to get up there and see it, I'll report back.
Posted by Mitch in Movies & Books and Popular Media
Comments
You forgot to mention that Maguire also has books re-examining the stories of Cinderella ("Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister") and Snow White ("Mirror Mirror").
His latest, "Lost", is a tour-de-force which makes use of literary themes from Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Jack the Ripper, A Christmas Carol, The Exorcist and Dracula.
Posted by: Sam at December 17, 2003 9:14 AM
Right you are. They are on my to-read list. I notice that Amazon has all four books in trade paperback for less than $50.
Posted by: Mitch at December 17, 2003 10:10 AM