Rating: 
Summary: Somewhere Over the Rainbow. . . .
Review: I had alreay read Maguire's CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER when I read WICKED (very contrary to my otherwise anal, everything-must-go-in-order personality), and I was greatly looking forward to it. Maguire again takes a relatively familiar storyline and turns it on its ear--and the readers along with it! We oftentimes think we know who and what is evil and sometimes even why. Maguire tampers with the "why" moreso than the who/what, really challenging the idea of the stereotypes and preconceived notions we all have. The "Wicked Witch of the West" from THE WIZARD OF OZ seems hardly the same girl, Elphaba, that we encounter in Maguire's book. In fact, she is the same, but our preconceived notions have clouded Maguire's "reality." I found the whole geographic aspects fascinating. How can she be the WW of the West, when she is really from the East? How can Glinda be the Good Witch of the North, when she is really from the East, too? Why does the Witch want those foolish shoes anyway? Why has Glinda given them to Dorothy? Where is Dorothy? Maguire doesn't even bring her into the story until it is very nearly over. Dorothy is more of an afterthought than the pivotal role she plays in the movie, and Maguire doesn't paint her kindly. . . . Maguire has invented a whole new world with his Oz, complete with detailed map, political strife and corruption, family histories, and fantastic elements. I can't wait to see THE WIZARD OF OZ now and watch it from Maguire's alternative perspective. It must be even better than Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON experiment! The only times he lost me at all were when he stayed in that fantasy realm too long. I struggled momentarily with the lack of human beings and "reality" (whatever that is), unlike UGLY STEPSISTER, which has real people and real places throughout. That is hardly his fault, but that's why I gave UGLY STEPSISTER five stars and WICKED only four. Maguire is Tolkein meets C. S. Lewis meets L'Engle meets Jakob Grimm meets Ray Bradbury. . . . I don't know if he can continue this torrid pace of writing specatacularly creative, inventive, challenging, unique, and heady books, but I can't wait to find out!! (New one's out!!)
Rating: 
Summary: A richly detailed story that only gets better.
Review: I must start this review by saying that it is certainly not a book you can take lightly. It takes some serious effort to stick with it, particularly once you get about half way through and the more light-hearted experiences of Elphaba, the wicked witch, at Shiz fade into her darker, secretive experiences at the Emerald City. After two failed attempts to tackle to book, fascinated by the subject matter both times, I finally got through it, inspired to read it because of the Broadway musical based on the book that I found myself mesmerized by (go see it, despite how different it is). The book is a richly textured account of the life of the Wicked Witch of the West, here given an actual name, Elphaba, as she moves from student at Shiz University, an outcast and roommate to G(a)linda, to secretive activist in the Emerald City, to maunt (nun), to Auntie Witch, later to become The Wicked Witch of the West. Throughout, the detailed religion, culture, and government of Oz supplement the narrative beautifully, adding depth to what could have been simply an unfounded story of what could happen to some flatly portrayed green girl from Oz. This story really makes you care for the witch and understand that even the most evil of people could simply be the victims of chance. I thought the book began and ended very strongly, but the narrative sagged a bit in the middle, particularly as Elphaba becomes a nun and travels rather boringly across the desert to the Winkie stronghold of Kiamo Ko. The story stays rather low-key for a while, but picks up when some more familiar characters, such as Nessarose, Elphaba's sister, Elphaba's father, Frexspar, and Glinda, reenter the novel. From this point out, the novel receives its well-deserved finale, in which it goes out with a bold glory rarely seen in novels. Of course, no life is without its dull moments, and even these are not completely flat. The prose is witty and never becomes to boorish. What really mesmerized me was fitting together the story in this novel into the context of the original Oz book and movie of the same (revised) name. I would reccomend this to someone who has quite a bit of undistracted time. It's important not to take very long breaks in reading this novel, as the details become more important toward the end, when the witch begins looking back upon her life. The novel should be a very interesting read for anyone familiar with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum or the movie from MGM. Its richly detailed characters and interesting plot choices make for a wonderful read that you're surely not soon to forget. Tough it out through the middle so you can finish this great book.
Rating:
Summary: Combination of Tolkien,Orwell and Freud
Review: 237 Reviews and seems that everybody was either simply fascinated with the story,or Glinda's dress,or monkey wings - OK,I will be the first one to aplaud to Maguire's phenomenal knowledge of human spirit.Its all presented like an magic story,but the book goes much deeper than most of others - I dont remeber the last time when I was so thrilled reading a work of someone who understand FEELINGS so well.The moment when The Witch meets her old father and sudenly her voice is a voice of a small child again.The moment when she wipes out his tears althought they hurt her,as she can't stand the water."I am not afraid of people who claim to be wicked" says Boq "beware of the ones who claim to be good,better than the rest of us".The book is full of such a beautiful,deep and moving moments and I am so thankful to discover this wonderful writter - "Wicked" would be obligatory read (gift) for my friends.I also have to say that there are so many interesting characters here who could all be interesting subjects of more books - Wizard Of Oz in the first place.And no,The Witch Of West was not an evil character at all,I see her as a deeply unhappy,sad and lonely woman,outcast from the start - its a proof of Maguire's talent that one of the scarriest characters of our childhood suddenly became human and I understand her loneliness,anger,passion and motives."What would you ask Wizard for" a little boy asked her,and instead of "soldiers" she sudenly said - "soul".Isn't it bizzare that everybody in Oz saw Dorothy as a saviour with animal in her arms (like in a ancient painting of Godess) and feared "bad" Witch,while its obvious that Witch was the one,she was the one who was protecting Animals and she was THE saviour with an ancient name,but then,she was just a woman with freaky green skeen and nobody - absolutely nobody - was on her side...
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Done!
Review: I've owned this book for almost 3yrs and now just got around to reading it - and I'm sorry I waited so long. I actually put off finishing the last 50 pages because I did not want it to end. I enjoyed it that much. As others have mentioned (and the subtitle implies), it's the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West (beginning prior to her birth) and her point of view of what was covered in the 'Wizard of Oz'. Admittedly, I know the 'Wizard of Oz' from only the movie and have never read that book. But the way that Maguire weaves little bits of references we know from the movie into his storyline is extremely clever and well done. Though the book covers much detail and touches on religion, politics, class structure, etc - what really is blatant is how there IS more than one side to a story. I'm not sure many people would consider the Wicked Witch of the East a protaganist - but she is, at least in this story...and at least in my opinion. I found the entire book interesting and moving along at a good pace. I have recommended the book to many people as I had been going along with my reading. Though I know they have made a musical play from this book - I believe a movie would have been a better way to go (NOT a musical movie either), but in the vein of how 'Lord of the Rings' was done for film. I have this at the top of all the books I've read in the last few years.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked With of the West
Review: This book is gorgeous! Gregory Macguire takes accepted ideas and explores the origins and consequences of such ideas. Elphabala is the archeotype of evil from everyone's childhood. He explores the origin of what made her evil to the backdrop of a modern industrial society. Anyone who hasn't read the book is missing out on a thought-provoking and intriging look at what our culture percieves to be evil. Anyone who has read the book and didn't enjoy it, I suggest you reread it again and apply the thoughts inside to events that have taken place in the world since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This book is my favorite ever. I've read it over ten times and have owned four copies. If you enjoyed this book, MacGuire also challenges the notion of beauty in "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister". and the ideas of perception and time in "Mirror, Mirror". Unfortunately, I have been unable to enjoy "Lost", so, you might want to avoid that one. But Wicked is a must read for any girl or woman who has ever been told that she is [bad], or anything other than sugar and spice.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible execution of a terrific idea
Review: I chose this book for my book club without having read it first. Biggest mistake EVER! This book is a MESS. The author lacks any real focus. He needed an editor badly. The story needed to be stripped down to its essence and then written in a straight-forward way. I felt no closer to knowing what really made the Wicked Witch of the West who she was. Also, I have to agree with many others that the sexual content was not only completely unnecessary, but overly gratuitous and revolting. I purchased this book and rather than loan it out, or give it away, I am throwing it away (something I have NEVER done before).
Rating:
Summary: BEWITCHED!! Gregory Maguire has done the impossible
Review: I heard about the book through a friend and thought 'Ok, yeah, I'll read it when I have time' but I ordered it anyway. As soon as I started the book I could not put it down. It's a fabulous story told from the viewpoint of Elphaba, the 'Wicked Witch of the West', from her childhood until the moment that fatal bucket of water was poured over her intense green skin. I could not stop reading, and as I read I felt fully involved in it, even crying once or twice. This is definitly a book to check out and read, if you don't you'll miss the magic of Elphaba's tale: the good - which was rare, the bad - which she seemed destined to work against, and the ugly - though I have now found the so-called "Wicked Witch" to be a truly beautiful person.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent beach read...
Review: I really loved this book; I am fascinated by authors who take on the task of writing, in essence, a biography of a character that someone else came up with. Frank L. Baum was fairly vague about the Wicked Witch of the West, and it is interesting to look at her as a protagonist, rather than an antagonist. Maguire has done an excellent job creating a believable back story for this character, while allowing her to retain some of her mystique. The book is somewhat stylized, which I realize is a bit off-putting for many readers, and if you are buying it because you liked the musical on Broadway, be forewarned that many details about the story are completely different from those in the musical. But I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fairly light read that provides an entertaining new look at an iconic character.
Rating: 
Summary: I tried so hard... I really did!
Review: I raved about this book to everyone I met for the first hundred pages or so. After that, I realized my attention span was waning. The characters are so hard to keep straight and the story seemed to drone on forever. Despite my waning interest, I really wanted to finish the book before I saw the Broadway show. Alas, it didn't happen. I realize that life wasn't over and that I enjoyed the play without having finished the book. The idea is phenomenal. How creative. The execution and the actual story, however, is one I could not get into.
Rating:
Summary: Surpassed expectations!
Review: I heard about Wicked from one of my college math professors and decided to pick it up for a summer read. The book pulls you in and wont let you stop reading it. I bought it 4 days ago and I finished all 400 pages already- I couldnt put it down! Wicked is set in the land of Oz that we all know from the movie, but Maguire developed this land so intricately and its peoples so cleverly that you'd almost think it was written before The Wizard of Oz. The review on the back of the book is true- Wicked deserves a space on everyone's shelves between Alice in Wonderland and The Hobbit. It was truly a fantastic read and I think it would be very difficult to be let down by this book.
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