CURRENTLY SOLD OUT

The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum by Rebecca Loncraine (Paperback / softback, 2010)

About this product

Product Information

In the first major literary biography of L. Frank Baum, Rebecca Loncraine tells the story of Oz as you've never heard it, with a look behind the curtain at the vivid life and eccentric imagination of its creator. L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1899 and it was first published in 1900. A runaway hit, it was soon recognized as America's first modern fairy tale. Baum's life story, like the fictional world he created, is uniquely American, rooted in the transforming historical changes of his times. Baum was a complex and eccentric man who could never stay put for long; his restless creative spirit and voracious appetite for new projects led him across the U.S. during his lifetime, and he drew energy and inspiration from each new dramatic landscape he encountered, . Born in 1856, Baum spent his youth in the Finger Lakes region of New York as amputee soldiers returned from the Civil War; childhood mortality was also commonplace, blurring the lines between the living and the dead, and making room in Baum's young imagination for vividly real ghosts. When Baum was growing up, P. T. Barnum ruled the minds of small towns and his traveling circus was the most famous act around. Baum married a headstrong young woman named Maud Gage and they ventured out west to Dakota Territory, where they faced violent tornadoes, Ghost Dancing tribes and desperate droughts, before trading the hardships on the Great Plains for the excitement of Chicago and the fantastical White City of the World's Fair. Baum's writing tapped into an inner world that blurred his own sense of reality and fantasy. The Land of Oz, which Baum believed he had discovered rather than invented, grew into something far bigger and more popular than he'd ever imagined. After the roaring success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, he became a kind of slave to his creation, trapped inside Oz as his army of demanding child fans kept sending him back there to create new adventures for Dorothy, Toto and the humbug wizard. He went on to write thirteen sequels to his first Oz book. He also wrote the first Broadway adaptations of his Oz tales, and turned his Oz books into some of the first motion pictures in a small and undiscovered rural settlement called Hollywood. Baum co-founded the Oz Film Manufacturing Company, even as critics warned that one would pay to see a children's story. And they were right- his early ventures were box office flops and the world was t ready for Oz on screen until 1939, when MGM released The Wizard of Oz in brilliant Technicolor. Baum was t around to see it-he'd died in bed in 1919 just weeks after completing his final Oz book. But the book and film alike have become classics, just as well-loved today as they were when they first appeared. The Real Wizard of Oz is an imaginatively written work that stretches the genre of biography and enriches our understanding of modern fairytales. L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its thirteen sequels, lived during eventful times in American history-- from 1856 to 1919-- that influenced nearly every aspect of his writing, from the Civil War to Hollywood, which was emerging as a modern Emerald City full of broken dreams and humbug wizards, to the gulf between America's prairie heartland, with its wild tornadoes, and its cities teeming with Tin Man factory workers. This is a colorful portrait of one man's vivid and eccentric imagination and the world that shaped it. Baum's famous fairytale is filled with the pain of the ecomic uncertainties of the Gilded Age and with a yearning for real change, ideas which many contemporary Americans will recognize. The Wizard of Oz continues to fascinate and influence us because it explores universal themes of longing for a better world, homesickness and finding inner strength amid the storms.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Gotham Books
ISBN-10
1592405584
ISBN-13
9781592405589
eBay Product ID (ePID)
189920583

Product Key Features

Author
Rebecca Loncraine
Format
Paperback / Softback, Trade Paperback (US) ,Unsewn / Adhesive Bound
Language
English
Topic
Biography: Literary
Genre
Biography: Literary

Dimensions

Weight
358g
Height
231mm
Width
153mm

Additional Product Features

Spine
20mm
Content Note
Maps, Black & White Plates
Author Biography
Born in England and raised on a hill farm in Wales, REBECCA LONCRAINE holds a doctorate in literature from Oxford University and writes regularly for the British press, including the Independent, the Guardian, and the Times Literary Supplement. She is also a creative- writing teacher.
Date of Publication
03/08/2010
Country of Publication
United States

Best Selling in Books

See all

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books

The Concise 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene (Paperback, 2002)
4.5 out of 5 stars based on 21 product ratings
AU $21.51 New
---- Used
The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest (Paperback, 2020)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 6 product ratings
AU $21.99 New
AU $15.39 Used
Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller by James Clear (Paperback, 2018)
4.8 out of 5 stars based on 25 product ratings
AU $19.89 New
AU $8.95 Used
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Paperback, 2000)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 6 product ratings
AU $59.45 New
---- Used
First Day by Andrew Daddo (Paperback, 2014)
No ratings or reviews yet.
AU $10.00 New
AU $6.29 Used

Save on Books

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books

Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World
AU $61.53
Trending at AU $65.08
NEW Bluey: My Mum is the Best By Bluey (Hardcover) Picture Book FREE Shipping
AU $11.95
Trending at AU $15.20
The 2023 Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer Cookbook: 1000 Days Simple, Delicious & Low C
AU $18.48
Trending at AU $19.57
Lonely Planet Vietnam | Paperback Book | NEW AU FREE SHIPPING AU
AU $27.88
Trending at AU $28.27
The Courage to be Disliked: The Japanese phenomenon that shows you how to free y
AU $19.95
Trending at AU $21.54
Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton, Paperback Book
AU $34.72
Trending at AU $38.07

Shop by category

The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum by Rebecca Loncraine (Paperback / softback, 2010)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Books

The Concise 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene (Paperback, 2002)

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest (Paperback, 2020)

Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller by James Clear (Paperback, 2018)

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Paperback, 2000)

First Day by Andrew Daddo (Paperback, 2014)

Save on Books

Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World

NEW Bluey: My Mum is the Best By Bluey (Hardcover) Picture Book FREE Shipping

The 2023 Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer Cookbook: 1000 Days Simple, Delicious & Low C

Lonely Planet Vietnam | Paperback Book | NEW AU FREE SHIPPING AU

The Courage to be Disliked: The Japanese phenomenon that shows you how to free y

Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton, Paperback Book

You may also like

Fiction & L. Frank Baum Paperback Books

Fiction Paperback L. Frank Baum & Fiction Books

L. Frank Baum 2010-Now Publication Year Paperback Fiction & Books

Fiction Paperback L. Frank Baum & Fiction Books in English

Hardcover L. Frank Baum Books

L. Frank Baum Non-Fiction Paperback Fiction & Books