Customer Reviews:
 Rated "R" book December 4, 2008
I am an avid reader, and have read many, many books. I purchased this book to read because I love the music and the play. I did not read this book because it held my attention (because it did not do so- ), But rather, I read it because I was curious to know the biographies and backgrounds of the characters mentioned in the musical. It did provide me with the information I desired, but I had to sift through a lot of "sludge" to get it. This book should be rated "R". It's descriptive talk of the various sex scenes is disgusting. It details sexual positions, orgasms, lust, cheating, adultery, and other steamy subjects. Though the book as a whole is not like that, there are several chapters that are just written pornography. I don't recommend this book to anyone; especially minors. But, even as a 22 year-old single male, I will never read this book again, nor will I recommend it to anyone.
phew December 2, 2008
This book is one of the rare ones that I find unenjoyable, unreadable and boring. Read about 30 pages and threw it away. Will not recommend it. The transaction was acceptable but the product wasn't.
 Something Wicked this way comes! December 1, 2008
Are we born evil or does our environment/situations create evil? Gregory Maguire's revision of the world of Oz takes a look at the evolution of Elphaba, best known to readers and lovers of the popular film as The Wicked Witch of the West. But was she really wicked or just completely misunderstood? Either way, you'll never think of Dorothy or the Wicked Witch in the same light again!
Maquire takes us to beginning as new parents Frex, a religious man, and Melena, born into a life of privilege, receive into the world a little green skinned daughter. Melena, unsure of what to do with the tiny monster she has given birth to, is helped by her childhood nanny to give little 'Fabala' a better start in life. With a mouth of sharp teeth, green pigmentation and "horrors" being her first words, Elphie is a force to be reckoned with. But Nanny works her magic and we next see Elphaba attending Shiz, the university where she meets Galinda (later to become Glinda, the Good Witch). Glinda is a spoiled young lady whose main concerns are popularity and the right people to be seen with---essentially a spoiled frat girl. Through a hand of fate, she and Elphaba become roommates and so begins a lifelong relationship filled with ups and downs.
It is at Shiz where the genesis of Elphaba's love for animals begins. Eventually she becomes an animal activist and political terrorist to support the rights she is dedicated to. Along the way, she has an affair with a married man, a Prince she met at Shiz, who becomes the love of her life. But her secret, dark life effects her hidden lover and she is soon on her way to become a maunt (a nun).
From birth to her time at the university and beyond, Maguire shows us the gradual evolution of Elphaba and the woman she becomes by the time she meets Dorothy, a young lady from the other world, who's house lands on top of and kills, Elphie's sister, Nessarose. There's a lot of components in Maquire's world of Oz---psychology, fantasy, thriller, romance, politics. There are many touches of dark comedy introduced in the story as well, particularly between Elphaba and Glinda. Maquire gives us a complete world full of political struggles, corruption and denied rights of individual and animals that mirror todays world. In the end, the reader can decide if Elphaba's actions were evil or if she was evil from conception. At any rate, I think readers will enjoy this trip to Oz, even more so than the popular film that everyone recognizes.
 Wicked November 29, 2008
What can I say... this book is... wicked!
I thought the book was great. I thought the quick ending short changed the story, though.
Great *adult* read (too sexy by half) November 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm coming at this rather late (the Wicked wave having crested several years back) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Wicked is the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West as told from a sympathetic point of view. Greg McGuire has woven a compelling story that , while not contradicting the familiar story lines of "The Wizard of Oz," certainly gives it a new spin. The WWW in "Wicked" is the deformed child of a failed preacher and a lonely mother, whose personality, while as sharp as her prowlike facial features, is more hurt than evil. Accustomed to being shut out, she develops a dislike for authority and finds herself at odds with the Wizard himself, seen through her eyes as a genocidal despot.
"Wicked" gives us the dark side of Oz -- a land of industrial exploitation, racial prejudice, backwardness, religious turmoil and political intrigue. It is populated by talking animals, empty-headed social butterflies and nasty boarding school matrons. In spite of her sharp tongue, rude manners and irreligiosity, Elphaba Throp (WWW's given name) sees too clearly to be a comfortable friend. Knowing that an ordinary life as wife and mother is likely out of her reach due to her green skin, she strokes out in more dangerous directions.
"Wicked" is mostly clever about the way Elphaba gathers the familiar accouterments of her screen namesake. It would spoil the book by telling how, but by the end of the book, the reader will have seen her slow transformation from a scorpion-tongued schoolgirl to the dark robed keeper of magic brooms, looking glasses and flying monkeys.
The book does lag in places, notably a section about the politics of Oz and another related to Elphaba's flight from civilization. In addition, at some point, it becomes fairly clear (from elements) that Elphaba gathers around her) how the familiar Wizard of Oz characters -- like the flying monkeys that terrified me as a child -- will come to be. Other sections were a bit too spicy for me and *way* too sexy for any but the savviest high schoolers. Two sections stand out as quite uncomfortable -- the night at the Philosopher's club (an audience-interactive sex show) and a graphic description of a love affair. Film this movie as written and it would rate a solid R, if not an NC-17. Not the kind of book to give a young person who loved the tamer Broadway show.
"Wicked" is compelling reading, written with wit, humor and sparkling prose. Bravo to Greg McGuire for re-imagining a familiar world and imbuing it for plausible features of our own. Bravo to John McDonough for a terrific narration of the audio book, giving the characters their own voice, and giving Elphaba the rough, petulant and wounded voice of her own.
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