Since the publication of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, authors, filmmakers, and theatrical producers have been retelling and reinventing this uniquely American fairy tale. This volume examines six especially significant incarnations of the story: Baum's original novel, the MGM classic The Wizard of Oz (1939), Sidney Lumet's African American film musical The Wiz (1978), Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's Broadway hit Wicked: A New Musical (2003), and the SyFy Channel miniseries Tin Man (2007). A close consideration of these works demonstrates how versions of Baum's tale are influenced by and help shape notions of American myth, including issues of gender, race, home, and magic, and makes clear that the Wizard of Oz narrative remains compelling and relevant today.
The Wizard of Oz as American Myth
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
About the Author
Alissa Burger is an assistant professor of English and humanities at the State University of New York at Delhi. She lives in Walton, New York.
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
We're not in Kansas anymore
20 Sep 2012
By Ed Gosney
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
The Wizard of Oz as American Myth, by Alissa Burger, is definitely not for the casual Oz fan, or even for the casual fan of any type of mythology. Burger goes deep into seven of the incantations of the Oz story, covering L. Frank Baum's novel, the movie classic, The Whiz, Gregory Maguire's Wicked, the Broadway version of Wicked, and the SyFy Channel miniseries Tin Man.
While Burger does a nice job of capturing different aspects of the six works, including women of Oz, Race, Magic & Witchcraft, and the reinventing of American myth through the stories, I quickly came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to get through this in just a few sittings. There are many footnotes, and while they do add to the context of each chapter, they take a lot of time to look up. So in essence, this book is not at all a light read.
One thing I learned from this book, and from a previous book that had an essay about Wicked, is that I am not at all interested in reading or seeing this retelling of what is already a classic tale. While I'm sure that millions of fans would disagree with me, I've read nothing about it that interests me. I do like the original movie, and loved the original book. I'm also a big fan of the movie Return to Oz, which definitely gives off more of a feeling of the Oz universe of the books than the musical with Judy Garland did.
With these thoughts in mind, I advise that you proceed with caution before following this particular yellow brick road.
While Burger does a nice job of capturing different aspects of the six works, including women of Oz, Race, Magic & Witchcraft, and the reinventing of American myth through the stories, I quickly came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to get through this in just a few sittings. There are many footnotes, and while they do add to the context of each chapter, they take a lot of time to look up. So in essence, this book is not at all a light read.
One thing I learned from this book, and from a previous book that had an essay about Wicked, is that I am not at all interested in reading or seeing this retelling of what is already a classic tale. While I'm sure that millions of fans would disagree with me, I've read nothing about it that interests me. I do like the original movie, and loved the original book. I'm also a big fan of the movie Return to Oz, which definitely gives off more of a feeling of the Oz universe of the books than the musical with Judy Garland did.
With these thoughts in mind, I advise that you proceed with caution before following this particular yellow brick road.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
3.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > Classics
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Children's Literature Studies
- Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > Poetry > Genres > Myths
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Communication Studies > Semiology
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
