Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West (The Wicked Years)

Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West (The Wicked Years)

?It?s impossible to deny the magic of Gregory Maguire.?-New York NewsdayA special 25th anniversary hardcover edition of the beloved multi-million-copy-bestselling novel and basis of the Tony Award-winning musical.Gregory Maguire's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller redefines the land of Oz, its inhabitants, its Wizard, and the Emerald City, viewing the world created by L. Frank Baum through a darker and greener lens. Brilliantly inventive, Wicked offers a radical new portrait of one of the most feared and despised villains in all of literature: the universally maligned Wicked Witch of the West who, in Maguire?s imaginative retelling, isn?t nearly as black-hearted as we imagined.Review"Maguire did something truly remarkable with this novel, in managing to inhabit, enlarge, deepen and find new dimensions in a world that had been invented by another writer, and in doing so make something entirely new. It?s an astonishing achievement." (Philip Pullman)"Gregory gets the complications and uniqueness of women very well." (Kristen Chenoweth)?At the heart of this remarkable, unforgettable novel is a wildly original premise-- one that only a writer with Gregory Maguire?s intellect and daring could have dreamed up: that the Wicked Witch of the West was a real woman, with an actual name, and her own story to tell. It was radical when Gregory first wrote it, and remains radical. It has the power to reshape one?s view of the world.? (Winnie Holzman, co-writer ofWicked: The Musical)?Long before there was any thought of a musical, I read Wicked. I felt a quiet joy that sisterhood had made its way to the Yellow Brick Road. What happens when a witch, green or otherwise, gets to tell her own story instead of being vilified and misrepresented by dominant cultural authority? We witches know how that turns out!? (Holly Near)?I knew that Gregory Maguire had come up with a genius idea the moment I heard aboutWicked. It?s a book that has changed a lot of lives, including mine.? (Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist ofWicked: The Musical)About the AuthorGregory Maguire is the New York Times bestselling author of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister; Lost; Mirror Mirror; and the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. Now a beloved classic, Wicked is the basis for a blockbuster Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Maguire has lectured on art, literature, and culture both at home and abroad. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.