Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story [Hardcover]

Frankly, although I have watched the film version of The Wizard of Oz dozens of times, I never gave much thought to its author. Then I saw a review of Evan Schwartz's book, Finding Oz, and its subtitle caught my eye: "How L. Frank Baum discovered the great American story." As I began to read this biography, I began to make all manner of connections between Baum's life and the themes in the two versions (i.e. print and cinematic) of one of the most popular books in American children's literature. For example, like Dorothy Gale but throughout much of his life, Baum struggled to find his own "Oz." Along the way, like Dorothy, he encountered all manner of obstacles and was frequently in harm's way. Also like Dorothy, he was not alone during his perilous journey, accompanied by his wife Maud and their four sons. Finally, with the immediate and profitable success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, he achieved the happiness and harmony that had eluded him for decades.

As Schwartz explains in the Epilogue, "And so L. Frank Baum [at age 44] achieved true happiness, a state of bliss available to everyone in this life even thought only the lucky few ever reach it. Frank radiated his happiness for the rest of his days, creating concentric circles of joy, spreading from Maude and the boys, to his extended family, rippling through space and time, continuing for eternity. `Every one loved him, he loved every one, and he was therefore as happy as the day was long,' Frank wrote of the Tin Woodman." That was seldom the case in the preceding years as each of Baum's career moves failed, one after another. He was a chicken farmer, an actor, a seller of machinery lubricants, a purveyor of novelty goods, and a newspaper publisher. Despite all these setbacks, Baum continued to write constantly (e.g. plays, ad copy, newspaper articles) and then, finally, he experienced what he characterized as an "epiphany and he immediately took a pencil in hand and began to write his "great American story...[one] that really seemed to write itself"" on whatever paper he could find.

As Baum goes on to observe, "It came to me right out of the blue. I think that sometimes the Great Author has a message to get across, and He has to use the instrument at hand. I happened to be the medium, and I believe the major key was given to me to open the doors to sympathy and understanding, joy, peace, and happiness." Schwartz seems almost as surprised as Baum was that such a profound work of fiction could thus be produced. Frankly, by the time I reached that point in Schwartz's narrative, I was rooting so hard for Baum that I had forgotten about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (except as a means to an end) because, for me, Baum's own life was the more compelling "great American story."

While I was reading this book, these are a few of the passages that caught my eye:

Maud's mother, Matilda Joslyn Gage, was one of the most prominent of the national leaders of the women's rights movement. "Mrs. Gage was in a near-constant state of fury over [denial of women's rights], and seemed to view her younger daughter as her last best hope for restoring the ancient balance of power. This belief, the lost ideal of the matriarchy, is exactly what Matilda wanted to hand down and bestow upon Maud." (Page 58)

"Frank Baum was struggling with contradictions of his own, filled with the hope of a better life in these wide-open spaces yet untouched by the fear of failure and physical danger in the untamed territory. Eager to discover what he could see and do along this frontier, he was journeying to the center of himself at the same time he was headed into the geographical center of North America. On his research mission, Frank was not only scouting Aberdeen [South Dakota] as a place for his family to live, but also for [still another] new livelihood, anew business to start." (Page 123)

"Throughout his life L. Frank Baum would always remain fascinated by Barnum and his core insight that Americans not only love to be swindled but will pay for the privilege as long as the swindle comes with a good story...He seemed to yearn for a world in which a hero pulls back the veil on fraudulent leaders and their self-deceived followers. Why was common sense in such short supply?"(Page 227)

Note: There is no doubt that Baum's fascination with Barnum was an influence on his portrayal of the Wizard as a fraud. He added a brilliant touch when having him respond to Dorothy's accusation that he is a very bad man. "Oh, no, my dear, I'm really a very good man, but I'm a very bad wizard, I must admit."

"L. Frank Baum had finally embraced [in March of 1898] his true self, an author of children's books. Although he was never meant to be a chicken breeder, an oil salesman, a storekeeper, a newspaper publisher, a peddler of fine china, or even a magazine editor, those experiences turned out to be quite useful to him. Now that he had the wisdom to see who he really was, now that he had enlarged his circle of compassion, now that he had dissolved his fear, he was finally able to approach his own climactic moment." (Page 269)

Given the fact that America is a nation of storytellers, Evan Schwartz concludes in his Postscripts, "few Americans have created stories powerful enough to join together five generations and counting. Certainly, no one on any list of American luminaries has ignited the world quite like L. Frank Baum. Ain't it the truth! Ain't it the truth!" (Page 315) It certainly is.

This is not so much a biography as it is an examination of the roots of one of America's best-loved stories. I found it very interesting, but at the same time, it disappointed me.

For one thing, several sections of the book seemed disjointed. Schwartz would start talking about a particular event, and to make it more interesting, he would fill in details about what MIGHT have happened. PERHAPS Baum felt like this, and MAYBE his wife, Maud, told him that, and IT IS LIKELY that they took such-and-such with them, etc. etc. I wish Schwartz would have just written a disclaimer at the beginning of the book saying that he filled in a few minor details to make his book flow better.

However, the major quibble that I have with this book is it's premise. It is an analysis of how the events in the life of one man, L. Frank Baum, translated into his greatest work. Because of this, I felt that the book was more tedious than necessary, and some of it even seemed pretty far-fetched to me. Baum is not here any more to interview, so many of the points made by the author were guesses, which I didn't appreciate. Personally, I would rather read the story of Baum's life and draw my own conclusions. Perhaps the author could make a few hints about what sort of things influenced his writings, but much of the time, the book just became very repetitive.

The thing that ANNOYED me most of all was that after the publication of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," the story pretty much ended. There is one more chapter about the rest of L. Frank Baum's life, and that's it. His Oz sequels and other books are dismissed as being uninspired and mostly irrelevant, which as a fan of the whole Oz series, I found pretty insulting. "The Wizard of Oz" was the end point. Period.

That is not to say that there is nothing to recommend this book, but all in all, I liked "L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz" better because it stuck to the facts more, and also because it looked at the whole of his work, including his many other wonderful writings. However, because it is more of a scholarly examination than the story of Baum's life, the book can be a bit dry at times. I have high hopes for Rebecca Loncraine's new book, "The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum" and hope it does a better job of capturing the spirit of this marvelous man who has brought so much enjoyment to children through the years.

Between the movie and the book, I've always been transported by "The Wizard of Oz." The imagery that L. Frank Baum created has always resonated with my imagination, but until reading "Finding Oz", I had never really thought about the life events that inspired Baum. This amazing book by Evan Schwartz reveals Baum's life and journey - the trials, events and people that planted the seed that germinated in Oz. The powerful setting of Oz comes from Baum's own travels - from his upbringing in upstate New York, through the oil fields of Pennsylvania to the dusty farmlands of Kansas to the gleaming White City of the 1898 Chicago World's Fair, Baum searched for his own personal success through a variety of careers, before finding within himself, his power as an author. Schwartz draws forth the traits of the famous and infamous newsmakers of Baum's time that come together in his characters. Can you guess who combines the power of Rockefeller, the genius of Edison and the razzle dazzle of P. T. Barnum? Finally, I loved the thoughtful discussion of the religious and philosophical underpinnings that created the geography of Oz as well as the traits and meaning of Dorothy's companions. This amazing book took my understanding and appreciation of Oz to a whole new level!

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