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Summary: Oz gets full scholarly approach
Review: This collection of nine essays published by the Children's Literature Association takes a scholarly approach to L. Frank Baum's popular children's books and the 1939 MGM movie. Written primarily by college and university professors in English, Literature, History, and Film, these well-written and insightful articles provide detailed analysis of the Oz phenomena in American culture. The book divides the essays into three sections: Origins of Oz; The World of Oz; and, Oz On Stage And Screen. There is also an Introductory review article which looks back on the first one hundred years of Oz criticism called 'Analyzing Oz: The First Hundred Years.' The essays look at Baum's frontier days in South Dakota, the origins of his vegetable characters, the meanings of home and humor in Baum's works, different schools of Ozian criticism, Fred Stone's portrayal of the Scarecrow, Baum as the first filmaker of Oz, and Dorothy as a cultural icon. The text is illustrated with black and white drawings and pictures and each essay has a bibliography of sources. Reading criticism of Baum and Oz is no where near as much fun as reading the original works themselves. But after you have read Baum's writings, it is useful to see how historians and academics view the cultural phenomenon that is Oz.
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