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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Finding Oz
How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story
Praise
“Finding Oz is underpinned by solid research…Schwartz does a fine job of unearthing the origins of Oz, and of portraying Baum as very much a man of his times -- the era of the vanishing frontier and the uneasy transition from Victorianism into modernity….As Schwartz informs us, Baum’s strange and essential gift was to see the outlines of myth within the machinery of the modern world.”
—The Washington Post
“An entertaining page turner…Mr. Schwartz’s spadework has produced some interesting theories…It's hard not to warm to Mr. Schwartz and easy indeed to join his quirky search for whatever it was that went into Frank Baum that could make The Wonderful Wizard of Oz come out of him.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Great fun….surprise findings….Schwartz uses his book as a lens to view the people and events at the turn of the 19th century, showing how Baum captured the wonder of the age he lived in.”
—The New York Post
“An appropriately speculative, wide-eyed biography…Schwartz has meticulously researched the spiritual and cultural influences on Baum.”
—The Los Angeles Times
“Fascinating…In Finding Oz, Evan Schwartz undertakes to explain Oz through the life of its creator L. Frank Baum.”
—The Seattle Times
"Finding Oz is a guided tour to the invention—or is it the discovery?—of that quintessentially American dreamscape, the Land of Oz, written with heart, brains, nerve—and a touch of magic."
—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and A Lion Among Men
"Wow, imagine learning about American history through the prism of America's greatest fairytale.
If you love amazing but true stories, you've got to read Finding Oz."
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Author, Team of Rivals
"I greatly enjoyed this book. It's surprising that no one before has investigated the various influences and inspirations in Baum's work to this extent. Because of some of the erroneous theories surrounding Baum's intent—the Populist theory chief among them—many authors have erred on the other side, basically that Baum was 'just telling a story' rather than bringing much of anything of his life experience to his work. That is, of course, far from the case and one which the author lays out convincingly and entertainingly. Finding Oz is genuinely impressive."
—Willard Carroll, author of I, Toto and owner of the world's largest Wizard of Oz collection
"The Wizard of Oz has been a formative influence in my own life's journey, so Finding Oz comes as an absolute revelation to me. Read this book!"
—Chris Gardner, author of The Pursuit of Happyness
In Finding Oz, Evan Schwartz reaches back into the social life of late-19th century America to write a failure-to-fame tale as rich as anything out of Horatio Alger…Readers who like a good tale of American pluck will enjoy this book….Schwartz’s book reminds us that Baum was an inventor—not a maker of machines or an engineer of instruments, but a creator of a landscape and a lore.”
—The San Francisco Chronicle
“A dad himself, Schwartz tells Baum’s story with understanding and wit, perfect for anyone with fond memories from over the rainbow.”
—Publishers Weekly