This diligently researched, gracefully written biography provides a comprehensive account of Baum (1856-1919), who created what Loncraine (independent scholar) calls the US's modern fairy tale. Providing an exquisite portrait of the period from the mid-1800s to the second decade of the 20th century, the author describes how Baum's first Oz book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), reflected his experience in New York State's Finger Lakes region, the Great Plains, and other parts of the Midwest. According to Loncraine, when Baum completed The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he knew that he had done his best work. The book seemed more like a discovery than an invention, Loncraine observes, and because it took on a life of its own Baum found himself in the thrall of an audience that demanded more stories from Oz (he wrote 13 sequels). Loncraine does not stint in her evocation of Baum's later years, when he tried to replicate the success of his book in Hollywood films, all of which flopped. A concluding chapter describes the period between Baum's death and the appearance in 1939 of the Technicolor transformation that turned The Wizard of Oz into a national epic.
Check Catalog
No comments:
Post a Comment