Wicked

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.

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 the victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become 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.

Performed by John McDonough

“Wicked is a punchy allegory that alludes to everything from Nazi Germany to Nixon’s America. It’s delightfully over-the-top at times, mixing serious metafiction with subtle humor and even (gasp) witch sex.” - Boston Phoenix

“Very close to being an instant classic ... Maguire has hit a home run his first time at bat.” - Memphis Commercial Appeal

“Save a place on the shelf between Alice and The Hobbit -that spot is well deserved.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Maguire combines puckish humor and bracing pessimism in this fantastical meditation on good and evil, God and free will, which should...captivate devotees of fantasy.” - Publishers Weekly

“It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy.” - School Library Journal

“An outstanding work of imagination.” - USA Today