FROM THE PUBLISHER
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
SYNOPSIS
An astonishingly rich re-creation of the land of Oz, this book retells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn't so wicked after all. Taking readers past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with imagination and allegory, Wicked just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature.

it was a good book. I am getting ready to start a bookring with it for USA & Canada residents only

RULES FOR THE RING.
1) Journal as soon as you receive the book.
2) Try to keep it no more than 4 to 6 weeks
3) When there are a few pages left to read pm next person for their address so you have it when you are ready to send out
4) Journal on it when you are done

RELEASE NOTES:

sent to oldreader to start off the bookring.

tbr...son will start right away.

son finished and said it was great.Really wants to find the next to read now.pmed directionshome for addy so I can get this moving.

got this in the mail the other day can't wait to get started!

I tried to get into this book but since I am expecting I had other books getting bumped up in line ahead of it so I decided to just send it along its merry way instead of forgetting about it till sometime after the baby's 18th birthday! What little I read was really good! I have sent it off on it's way to the next one in line sorry it took me sooo long!

I am sorry, today is the first day since I received the book that I have had computer access. I started reading it yesterday and am about 100 pages in, so I should be done and have it ready to send on by next week sometime.

Not what I expected at all, but a very pleasant surprise!

Sending to next person.

Arrived safely. I have to finish the ring I'm reading now and then I can start this one. I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you for sharing!

Oops, forgot to make a journal entry when I finished on Friday. I've PM'ed MazieNH for her address, but haven't heard anything back yet. I'll give it a few more days then move on down the list.

I thought this was an interesting take on the Wizard of Oz story, and liked how it gave the histories and backgrounds of all the witches. Who knew they had such interconnecting lives? I'm looking forward to reading Son of a Witch to see what happened next, especially since there were some bits that were left hanging.

Mailing to MazieNH this morning.

Recieved safely today - will read this immediately!

Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind, but I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I thought I would :(

I found the political intrigue boring, and since it was what 50% of the book entailed, I struggled to finish the book. By the time Dorothy and recognizable characters came into play, I just wanted to be done with it.

It wasn't a badly written book, it was cleverly done, but the author's themes and agenda just weren't what I had in mind. I expected a sly satire of the movie itself with some backstory to change one's perspective on the action. Instead I found it to be a novel about a political struggle in a fantasy other world, and nothing in it was that compelling to me.

My biggest problem with the book is that Elphaba seemed to have no driving force, no agenda, no missin in the book. She seemed to just float through Oz's history even when she was an integral part.

My favorite parts were the college scenes of the "young revolutionaries" developing relationships.

I PM'd dittybopper for an address on 7/27 and will again today 8/1. I will also PM Beloved49 just in case I can't reach dittybopper

Thank you for sharing your book! I've wanted to read it for some time.

RELEASE NOTES:

Brought to the PO today

Received today. Will bump it up to next in line TBR. Thanks!

I have finally finished this book and I have to agree with most of what Mazie has said. Towards the last few chapters I felt as if I were just trudging along and I was happy when the end came. There were many interesting scenes in this book, but none of the ones I found entertaining had anything to do with the political issues that seemed to overwhelm the book in places. I guess I was more interested in finding out why the Wicked Witch was wicked and I came away with the feeling that she really wasn't wicked at all - only lost to herself.

I have PM'd Beloved and will try to mail the book out this week along with a whole stack of other books I've been owing for some time. Thanks for the opportunity to read it pkboo.

Beloved49 has asked to be skipped so I will PM raerae78 and send it on its way as soon as I get an address.

Seems to have dropped off the face of the earth hopefully it will turn up one day

This book has washed ashore at the Lost Book Island after not being heard from for many months. This new arrival will be shown to a room and be allowed a bit of rest before being introduced to the many fun things to do here at the island.

All around there are books sipping cool drinks under shady palms while other books participate in a wide variety of beach sports. There is plenty of sand, surf and sun here for all of the lost and wayward books to enjoy.

It is hoped that very soon a new journal entry will come to rescue this book from the island and send it back out into the BookCrossing world so that it may continue on its journey. It is hoped that the new journal entry will tell all the interested parties where this book has been this long time and where it will be traveling to next.