This is the book that started it all! The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire's breathtaking New York Times bestseller Wicked views the land of Oz, its inhabitants, its Wizard, and the Emerald City, through a darker and greener (not rosier) lens. Brilliantly inventive, Wicked offers us a radical new evaluation of one of the most feared and hated characters in all of literature: the much maligned Wicked Witch of the West who, as Maguire tells us, wasn’t nearly as Wicked as we imagined. “Wicked is a punchy allegory that alludes to everything from Nazi Germany to Nixon’s America. It’s delightfully over-the-top at times, mixing serious metafiction with subtle humor and even (gasp) witch sex.” - Boston Phoenix “Very close to being an instant classic ... Maguire has hit a home run his first time at bat.” - Memphis Commercial Appeal “Save a place on the shelf between Alice and The Hobbit -that spot is well deserved.” - Kirkus Reviews “Maguire combines puckish humor and bracing pessimism in this fantastical meditation on good and evil, God and free will, which should...captivate devotees of fantasy.” - Publishers Weekly “It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy.” - School Library Journal “An outstanding work of imagination.” - USA Today When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes the victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil. Performed by John McDonough Gregory Maguire is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked ―the beloved classic that is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name and the major motion pictures― Son of a Witch , A Lion Among Men , and Out of Oz . His series Another Day continues the story of Oz with The Brides of Maracoor , The Oracle of Maracoor , and The Witch of Maracoor , and his other novels include A Wild Winter Swan , Hiddensee , After Alice , Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister , Lost , and Mirror Mirror . Some of his novels for children include Cress Watercress , Leaping Beauty , and Egg & Spoon , winner of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor. He lives in New England and France. Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West By Gregory Maguire ReganBooks Copyright ©2005 Gregory Maguire All right reserved. ISBN: 9780060876326 From the crumpled bed the wife said, "I think today's the day. Look how low I've gone." "Today? That would be like you, perverse and inconvenient," said her husband, teasing her, standing at the doorway and looking outward, over the lake, the fields, the forested slopes beyond. He could just make out the chimneys of Rush Margins, breakfast fires smoking. "The worst possible moment for my ministry. Naturally." The wife yawned. "There's not a lot of choice involved. From what I hear. Your body gets this big and it takes over--if you can't accommodate it, sweetheart, you just get out of its way. It's on a track of its own and nothing stops it now ." She pushed herself up, trying to see over the rise of her belly. "I feel like a hostage to myself. Or to the baby." "Exert some self-control." He came to her side and helped her sit up. "Think of it as a spiritual exercise. Custody of the senses. Bodily as well as ethical continence." "Self-control?" She laughed, inching toward the edge of the bed. "I have no self left. I'm only a host for the parasite. Where's my self , anyway? Where'd I leave that tired old thing?" "Think of me." His tone had changed; he meant this. "Frex"--she headed him off--"when the volcano's ready there's no priest in the world can pray it quiet." "What will my fellow ministers think?" "They'll get together and say, 'Brother Frexspar, did you allow your wife to deliver your first child when you had a community problem to solve? How inconsiderate of you; it shows a lack of authority. You're fired from the position.'" She was ribbing him now, for there was no one to fire him. The nearest bishop was too distant to pay attention to the particulars of a unionist cleric in the hinterland. "It's just such terrible timing." "I do think you bear half the blame