I have read all of L. Frank Baum's books about Oz as a kid. I loved them so much I bought all the hard back editions of them. Then a few years ago I saw "Wicked" on Broadway. I loved it! So I thought I would read the book to get more of a background knowing there is much that has to be left out when a book is put into a play. Whoa! Mr. Maguire did NOT need to put all the sexual parts in this book. To me it demeaned Mr. Baum's story. What a let down. I finished the book but will never recommend it to anyone. To me it was almost trash. I liked the concept Mr. Maguire had but he really went overboard. The story would have been fine without the sex.

Maguire has shown me the error of my ways. I had always thought Dorthy was doing a GOOD thing by killing the Wicked Witch of the West. Now I know it was all just a horrible mistake by a little girl who was completely out of her element. I very much appreciated the twist and depth to the original story that Wicked has introduced. As an earlier reviewer wrote, one of the themes in this book is that, "Everything is not as it seems." It gives one pause to think how very much like Dorthy we are in the bigger picture of the world. I'm the type of person who thinks life is too short to re-read books; however, this one I just might.

The people that like this book must be the same people that like Yoko Ono and performance art. Myself and a friend from work decided to read this book together and discuss it, because we heard tons of positive hype. Half way thru we were still waiting expectantly for SOMETHING, ANYTHING to happen. I couldn't even fininsh it!(but I read most of it,)I didn't even feel compelled to finish it. This is the most overrated book I have ever come across. Easily the worst book I have ever read.

Along with all the other good folks who rated this book 1 star, I found it haphazardly written, uninteresting and full of unlikeable characters.But why 2 strikes you ask me?Well, this is the second chance I give this author. I read "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" and felt much the same about it as this one. However since I had heard such glowing praise for this book I figured I simply picked a dud before and read "Wicked" hoping to understand some of the hoopla about this author. Sadly, I remain unimpressed with his work and will now proceed to never read his books again.He does pick interesting themes for his books but fails to deliver every time.

It shows a completely different view of the Wicked Witch of the West from the beloved story by Baum. Maguire's brings to life a brilliant re-telling of the story of Oz with a more "realistic" view of the life in this fantasy land. The story line is imaginiative and intelligent and keeps you turning the pages. This book definitely brings to the reader's attention on "What is evil?" and keeps your mind working. This is a story you surely wouldn't want to miss!

As a child, I enjoyed the movie and the books about Oz. I wouldn't say that I was a fanatic about them though and it was only after friends repeatedly encouraged me to read "Wicked" that I finally charged into it. I am very happy that I did. Except that Maguire occasionally gets bogged down trying to explain as a philosopher rather then demonstrate as a novelist his themes of the deceptive natures of appearances, politics, and of evil, the book was a refreshing look at a childhood pleasure. The greatest fun was reading "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" immediately after finishing "Wicked". I hope that I have not offended Mr. Maguire by saying that.