I’m getting behind… but here’s a start.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire Who doesn’t have a soft spot for Oz somewhere in them? And the occasional fractured fairy tale – also great fun. It was with glee that I began listening to this book. Indeed, it turns the Oz of the classic story on its head, in a way that is often disturbing. The Wizard is not a bumbling but beneficent ruler, but a crafty and self-serving despot who holds a terrified Oz in a stranglehold. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of West, doesn’t really consider herself wicked or a witch. She grows up a loner, isolated because of her green skin, traveling around Oz with her missionary father and studying at the University. Finally, the state of affairs in Oz prompts her to take action, and the Wizard takes notice. But the story is only beginning, and while the country may be imaginary, the issues are not.