The Wizard of Oz as American Myth by Alissa Burger

The Wizard of Oz as American Myth by Alissa Burger

Since the publication of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, authors, filmmakers, and theatrical producers have been retelling and reinventing this uniquely American fairy tale. This volume examines six especially significant incarnations of the story: Baum's original novel, the MGM classic The Wizard of Oz (1939), Sidney Lumet's African American film musical The Wiz (1978), Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's Broadway hit Wicked: A New Musical (2003), and the SyFy Channel miniseries Tin Man (2007). A close consideration of these works demonstrates how versions of Baum's tale are influenced by and help shape notions of American myth, including issues of gender, race, home, and magic, and makes clear that the Wizard of Oz narrative remains compelling and relevant today.

“an engaging and intelligent analysis of specific iterations of the story”—Mythlore; “Burger’s study succeeds on many levelsLet us hope more scholars as talented as Alissa Burger will choose to follow new yellow brick roads”—Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts; “Burger does this popular myth great scholarly service by providing insightful analysis into how the evolving story and interpretations reflect their particular eras”—Reference & Research Book News.

Alissa Burger is an associate professor of English and Director of Student Success at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780786466436
ISBN 10	078646643X
Title	The Wizard of Oz as American Myth
Author	Alissa Burger
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	McFarland & Co Inc
Year published	2012-03-30
Number of pages	240
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.