Wicked

The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

By: Gregory Maguire

Narrated by: John McDonough

Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Heralded as an instant classic of fantasy literature, Maguire has written a wonderfully imaginative retelling of The Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's point of view. More than just a fairy tale for adults, Wicked is a meditation on the nature of good and evil.

Elphaba is born with green skin, a precocious mind, and a talent for magic. An outcast throughout her childhood in Munchkinland, she finally begins to feel as though she fits in when she enters the University in the Emerald City. While she hones her skills, she discovers that Oz isn't the Utopia it seems. She sets out to protect its unwanted creatures, becoming known as the Wicked Witch along the way.

Narrator John McDonough draws you in to Maguire's magical world of witches and talking animals, making it possible to believe in a land somewhere over the rainbow.

©1995 Gregory Maguire (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"A staggering feat of wordcraft." (Los Angeles Times)
"McDonough's excellent portrayals of Elphaba's outspoken, gravel-voiced nanny, Glinda's snobbish friends, and the wide-eyed, soft-spoken Dorothy make this excursion to Oz worthwhile." (Publishers Weekly)

Wicked

Thanks for this great first of a three part book download. The narrator has a great variety of voices and tells the story well.

An interesting take on the story.

Plausible and interesting. A completely different take on an old story and in a not too unbelievable sort of way.

Wicked (Unabridged

Any One who Loves the oz Stories will simply adore this Story.
The Characters jump right thru the speakers and touch your emotions.
It gave me a deeper appreciation of The Wicked Witch Of the West...

Meh... I expected better

I attempted to read this book several years ago and never could get in to it, so I gave up. Then we saw the Broadway show last year, which was great! I decided to give the book another go, but decided I'd try listening this time. It's still just ... meh. The author is fair, but it's kind of weird having a male narrator for a book with mostly female main characters. I was expecting more from the story than a cast of characters driven largely by sex and greed. The Broadway show is better. I'll stick with that.

Surprising and Exciting

This story is dark, sarcastic, funny, sad, and, at times, racy, with a seductive (and surprising) beginning, climax, and end. Maguire's characters were engaging and as a listener, I felt like I connected with not only Elphaba, but all of the colorful cast. The narrator made the storytelling fun and hard to put away (he's a close second to Josephine Bailey). I'm already into my second listen. Be warned... this is nothing like the musical, but you won't be disappointed.

mixed feelings

I think this is a well-written book. It did take me a while to get into it because it was kind of odd/weird in the beginning. Some chapters/sections are great, while others are weaker. I guess the main problem with it - besides the slow beginning - is its just depressing, and not really in a black humor sort of way.

Hard Going - Not What I Was Expecting

I have to admit to finding this book a hard-slog. I was expecting a fun Oz story like the original books, however, I found the occasional bad language and sexual references too distracting - it just didn't seem to fit well in what was essentially, a children's story-book environment. I realise this is an adult novel, but I just feel Oz is best left in the hands of children's authors - I wasn't keen.

I can't tell

An interesting idea and narrative, but the story didn't grab me like I had hoped. Perhaps it was the performance, which wasn't bad, but didn't have me believing the story. The parallels with this world's history and our own are interesting.

It may have been my own preconceptions about how the Wizard of Oz movie and books went that made me not connect with this book.

A fine enough book. Just wasn't for me.

Definitely not the musical

I fell in love with the musical hoping to get something similar here but it is extremely different. The story is slow and ploding, the narrative can get annoying and I didn't find any of the charm I was hoping for that was in the musical. There were a few times where it almost got there but not quiet, not even in the general themes. I won't be ready any of the series which is disappointing because I was really hoping to fall in love with this.

Definitely not the Broadway show!

it's good but it's not the story you're maybe expecting. Lots of discourse on politics, religion and sex. I'm still a bit unsure of the point.