The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire's Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination.
Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin--no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz's most promising young citizens.
But Elphaba's Oz is no utopia. The Wizard's secret police are everywhere. Animals--those creatures with voices, souls, and minds--are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals--even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.
Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name--one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel's distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire's Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch.
It's always fun to see how books get adapted for the screen. But sometimes, this happens before we've had the chance to read the source material. Or maybe we just want to reread a book before we watch. Here are sixteen of the books behind the buzziest new and upcoming book-to-screen adaptations.
The much-anticipated Wicked movie comes out soon and we're over the rainbow about it! The film finds its roots in L. Frank Baum's 1900 classic novel, but the yellow-brick road has taken a few twists and turns along the way. Let's take a look at the fascinating evolution of this tale. Also, we've put together a reading list for fans.
It's always fun to see how books get adapted for the screen. But sometimes, this happens before we've had the chance to read the source material. Or maybe we just want to reread a book before we watch. Here are fifteen of the books behind the buzziest new and upcoming book-to-screen adaptations.
Witches take many forms in literature—from villainous queens to secret healers to heroic vigilantes. They can be young or old, real or imagined, historic or modern-day. This roundup of liter-witch-ure offers a variety of witchy representations, ranging from old to new.
It's always fun to see how good books get adapted for the screen. But sometimes, this happens before we've had the chance to read the source material. Or maybe we just want to reread the book before we watch. Here are fourteen of the books behind the buzziest book-to-screen adaptations.