The Annotated Wizard of Oz (Centennial Edition) | 
| Author: L. Frank Baum
Creators: Martin Gardner, Michael Patrick Hearn, W. W. Denslow
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 90441
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Centennial
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 396
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.5
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 8.7 x 1.7
ISBN: 0393049922
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.4
EAN: 9780393049923
ASIN: 0393049922
Publication Date: October 16, 2000
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Condition: PAPERBACK COPY BOOK CLUB EDITION.
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| Similar Items:
| • | The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition | | • | The Annotated Brothers Grimm | | • | 15 Books in 1: L. Frank Baum's Original "Oz" Series. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Road to Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, The Patchwork Girl Of Oz, Little Wizard Stories of Oz, Tik-Tok of Oz, The Scarecrow Of Oz, Rinkitink In Oz, The Lost Princess Of Oz, The Tin Woodman Of Oz, The Magic of Oz, and Glinda Of Oz. | | • | The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales | | • | The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
An updated version of the definitive guide, The Annotated Wizard of Oz provides a facsimile color version of the first edition of L. Frank Baum's children's classic along with extensive notes and a thorough history of the immense Oz project. In his excellent introduction, Michael Patrick Hearn describes the author's early life and interests and the development of his collaboration with W.W. Denslow, the original illustrator for his books. An energetic and excitable fellow, Baum's devotion to make-believe began in his early 20s, when he joined a small touring theatrical troupe on the East Coast. Later attempts to run a general store and a newspaper in South Dakota (then the Wild West) failed miserably. Although few of his business ventures or artistic efforts had met with success, in 1897 Baum's "Father Goose" rhymes (designed and illustrated by Denslow) became a surprise bestseller, and Baum was able to buy his family a summer cottage on Lake Michigan, christened "The Sign of the Goose," for which he made most of the furniture (goose-themed, of course) and stenciled the walls with a frieze of green geese. The idea for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, "a modern fairy tale," as he considered it, soon followed, and the book appeared in May 1900. The 10,000-copy first printing sold out in two weeks, and about 90,000 sold within the first year. Hearn goes on to describe the many books that followed, as well as the 1902 musical extravaganza The Wizard of Oz and Baum's subsequent, ill-starred attempts to depict the world of Oz on film. (He died long before the 1939 MGM musical made his fairy tale known around the globe.) In 1907, he told a reporter for the Grand Rapids Herald why he preferred young readers: To write fairy stories for children, to amuse them, to divert restless children, sick children, to keep them out of mischief on rainy days, seems of greater importance than to write grown-up novels. Few of the popular novels last the year out, responding as they do to a certain psychological demand, characteristic of the time; whereas, a child's book is, comparatively speaking, the same always, since children are always the same kind of folks with the same needs to be satisfied. Hearn has gone to great lengths in his notes to this facsimile of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, often referring to subsequent volumes in the series, slowly building a key to the rules and history of Oz, pointing out inconsistencies as well as hints to Baum's literary sources (such as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress), and providing, among other delights, a mini-treatise on malevolent vegetation in Oz. This is an essential volume for the Oz aficionado or the student of children's literature, and a wonderful resource for parents of young readers. --Regina Marler
Book Description
A beloved classic comes to life with this beautifully illustrated annotated edition on the 100th anniversary of Oz. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the quintessential American fairy tale, but also one of the most controversial children's books ever published. Michael Patrick Hearn, the world's leading Oz scholar, provides a spellbinding annotated edition that illuminates all of Oz's numerous contemporary references, provides fascinating character sources, and explains the actual meaning of the word "Oz." A facsimile of the rare 1900 first edition appears with the original drawings by W. W. Denslow--scrupulously reproduced to mimic their correct colors, using a different color for each region of Oz--as well as twenty-five previously unpublished illustrations. In addition, Hearn provides an extensive bibliography, compiling Baum's published work, every notable Oz edition, and the stage and motion-picture productions from 1939's The Wizard of Oz to the 1974 Broadway smash The Wiz. The result is a classic to rival Baum's own, and a book no family's library can do without. 90 black-and-white, 56 color, and two-color illustrations throughout.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
Had enough of the "real" world? Oz awaits. May 3, 2008
I'm a big fan of these annotated books, not only for their visual appeal on the bookshelf, but for their ability to transport me away from the everyday world. And you may think you know Oz because you can sing "Over the Rainbow" and "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", but I assure you, this book will take you farther into Oz than you ever went before. Unlike The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition, which is dense with text, this volume is packed with art and illustrations, including a lot of full color pages. The movie images floating in your brain take on a different hue when you see the illustrations which actually brought the Ozian creatures to life. As with all the annotated works in this "series", this one has crisp, cleanly printed pages, an artsy dust jacket that is pleasing to behold, and tons of Baum biographical information, and of course, lots of notations. If you are an Oz fan to begin with, you owe it to yourself to buy this book. If you just like children's stories and the history behind them, this is also for you. And don't forget: the book is better than the movie, anyway!
Wonderful March 21, 2008
This is a wonderfully informative book. It has its biases, but they're of the harmless, author-worship variety. The only caveat I'd add is that this isn't the book to have as your sole copy of The Wizard of Oz. It's nearly impossible to read the actual story amidst the annotations. That's not a criticism: that is, after all, the purpose of the book. But if you've never read the story, or want to read it to your children, get a simple copy of the book as well.
The Ultimate Oz February 21, 2008
The "Annotated" series is simply wonderful. Best of all, they are getting better and better all the time. My first was The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition and since then, I've gained a small collection of annotated books. These books were the original DVD commentary track. Now, it just seems strange when I'm reading a book and there's no footnote for further insight!
This was the second Annotated book I bought. The first two books I bought in this series represents the top two lifelong obsessions within fantasy: Wonderland and Oz (now, if only they'd do Neverland to complete my personal trilogy!).
Upon first reading, I'll admit -- this was a bit hard to start. Sure, it was interesting, but compared to the introduction to the Alice book, it seemed a bit rambling. It seemed like I'd never get through to the actual book!
Recently, I decided to give it another go. So, starting from the beginning again, I read. Age must change my opinion on things. It was no longer so rambling. I rather enjoyed the introduction -- in fact, wish it was longer!
When your first introduction to the Annotated series is Alice, a highly satirical book with a lot of symbolism, you may have expectations of all the secret meanings revealed. Don't expect it here. As is stressed in the introduction, this was a story purely meant to delight. While there are similarities in the ultimate purpose of writing it -- a boredom with the children's books of the day -- the two are completely different in their approach. Carroll used the book to make fun of the children's books of his day. Baum just wrote a good story.
So, therefore, the annotations have more to do with what was going on around Baum at the time, things in his life that may have had some influence, and criticism rather than the hidden symbols found within. You'll get a history lesson of turn-of-the-century America that we may not hear much. You'll learn about changes to the book made over the years.
The greatest thing about this edition is that it's a facsimile of the first edition. The pages aren't perfect -- there are age marks every now and then. But you'll finally be able to see what exactly made this book so novel in 1900 -- colors and text are reproduced in a way most editions do not. Most other editions using Denslow's drawings are usually incomplete with a more modernized setting for the fonts. This causes many pages of illustration to be omitted as the illustrations are a bit more difficult to reproduce when the original text is overlapping.
The accuracy of the reproduction may be a huge downfall for the annotations, though. Unlike most annotated novels where you'll find the numbers within the text and the annotation in the margins of the book, the numbers have been moved to the edges of each line of text with the annotations on a separate page. Probably, this was done to interfere with the original text, but it means that some confusion might come in when to look at a note. Two numbers may try to squeeze into a single line, which is a little awkward. Or, because the note numbers are no longer attached to the text, we won't know what words those numbers are attached to until we look at the next page (or a few pages ahead, depending on how long the note is).
This isn't quite enough for me to take any stars off, though. It may be an inconvenience, but it's no way to judge the quality of the book. In fact, the rarities -- bonus story, reproductions, and art in the Deslow Index -- more than make up for the structure.
This is an over-sized book, so if you want to add it to your Oz collection, it might be out of place a bit -- if you want an edition to fit in perfectly with your other Oz books, I'd suggest getting The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Books of Wonder) along with this just for casual reading or completeness on the bookshelf.
The Annotated Wizard of Oz (Centennial Edition) December 28, 2007
This book was purchased for my grand daughter who is 18 years old. She thoroughly enjoyed receiving it as a gift. She liked reading the "annotated information" while reading the story. It was a hit as a Christmas gift.
Still as great as when I was a kid September 14, 2007
This is a wonderful story told by a master. The illustrations are just beautiful. I've been watching the film since I was five years old and have always loved it. Now I love the book.
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