Rebecca Loncraine
Penguin Publishing Group/Oasis Audio
In the first major literary biography of L. Frank Baum, Rebecca Loncraine tells the story of Oz as you've never heard it, with a look behind the curtain at the vivid life and eccentric imagination of its creator
L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz in 1899 and it was first published in 1900. A runaway hit,
it was soon recognized as America's first modern fairy tale. Baum's
life story, like the fictional world he created, is uniquely American,
rooted in the transforming historical changes of his times. Baum was a
complex and eccentric man who could never stay put for long; his
restless creative spirit and voracious appetite for new projects led him
across the U.S. during his lifetime, and he drew energy and inspiration
from each new dramatic landscape he encountered,. Born in 1856, Baum
spent his youth in the Finger Lakes region of New York as amputee
soldiers returned from the Civil War; childhood mortality was also
commonplace, blurring the lines between the living and the dead, and
making room in Baum's young imagination for vividly real ghosts. When
Baum was growing up, P. T. Barnum ruled the minds of small towns and his
traveling circus was the most famous act around. Baum married a
headstrong young woman named Maud Gage and they ventured out west to
Dakota Territory, where they faced violent tornadoes, Ghost Dancing
tribes and desperate droughts, before trading the hardships on the Great
Plains for the excitement of Chicago and the fantastical White City of
the World's Fair.
Baum's writing tapped into an
inner world that blurred his own sense of reality and fantasy. The Land
of Oz, which Baum believed he had "discovered" rather than invented,
grew into something far bigger and more popular than he'd ever imagined.
After the roaring success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, he
became a kind of slave to his creation, trapped inside Oz as his army of
demanding child fans kept sending him back there to create new
adventures for Dorothy, Toto and the humbug wizard. He went on to write
thirteen sequels to his first Oz book. He also wrote the first Broadway
adaptations of his Oz tales, and turned his Oz books into some of the
first motion pictures in a small and undiscovered rural settlement
called "Hollywood". Baum co-founded the Oz Film Manufacturing Company,
even as critics warned that no one would pay to see a children's story.
And they were right- his early ventures were box office flops and the
world was not ready for Oz on screen until 1939, when MGM released "The
Wizard of Oz" in brilliant Technicolor. Baum was not around to see
it-he'd died in bed in 1919 just weeks after completing his final Oz
book. But the book and film alike have become classics, just as
well-loved today as they were when they first appeared.
The Real Wizard of Oz is
an imaginatively written work that stretches the genre of biography and
enriches our understanding of modern fairytales. L. Frank Baum, author
of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its thirteen sequels, lived during
eventful times in American history— from 1856 to 1919— that influenced
nearly every aspect of his writing, from the Civil War to Hollywood,
which was emerging as a modern Emerald City full of broken dreams and
humbug wizards, to the gulf between America's prairie heartland, with
its wild tornadoes, and its cities teeming with "Tin Man" factory
workers. This is a colorful portrait of one man's vivid and eccentric
imagination and the world that shaped it. Baum's famous fairytale is
filled with the pain of the economic uncertainties of the Gilded Age and
with a yearning for real change, ideas which many contemporary
Americans will recognize. The Wizard of Oz continues to fascinate and
influence us because it explores universal themes of longing for a
better world, homesickness and finding inner strength amid the storms.
MY REVIEW:
I listened to this book on audio CD and was very impressed by both the narrative and narration. Covering Baum's entire life, from birth to death, Loncraine provides vivid details of every aspect of Baum's life as well as the culture and historical events which played backdrop to his life. While the author does sometimes take detours through seemingly disconnected bits of history, she does a nice job of eventually tying everything together. The result is a magical look deep inside the author's heart and soul.
I particularly appreciated the author taking the time to summarize each of the many Oz books. I had no idea there were so many in the series. Being only acquainted with the first book and the 1939 film, these insights into the other Baum creations opened new worlds for me and left me wanting to read them all.
By the time I had finished listening to the entire book, I had a new appreciation for the creative mind, and for Baum in particular. The land of Oz and all its magnificent characters are truly America's first and foremost fairytale. This biography is well worth the read.
* The CDs were provided free of charge from Oasis Audio in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment