Finding Oz: How L Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story by Evan Schwartz is a solid blending of history and biography as the author, Schwartz, traces the life and experiences of L Frank Baum, the author of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and many other books, some that take place in worlds other than Oz. Baum was born in interesting times, as they say, and the names of the famous and infamous litter the pages like confetti after a celebration. From suffragettes to politicians to literary and spiritual groundbreakers, the pages overflow with the significance of the era in which Baum lived.
For the most part, I enjoyed this book but I found some of Schwartz’s suggestions for Baum’s inspiration a bit ridiculous. To say that Baum features an oil can in his most famous novel because the Baum family once produced a form of oil that people used to help grease axels on buggies and wagons is not interesting and I still don’t see a connection between his mother-in-law’s militant feminism and the witches that people the novel. There are times I had to wonder if Schwartz didn’t hurt himself while trying to reach for a connection, forcing relevance where none was needed; I found myself feeling a sympathy for all those non-English majors who suffer through literature courses in college. I remember hearing these students bitch and moan about how the reader could interpret the text to mean or say anything and, frankly, there are times I felt Schwartz was guilty of leaning too far into fantasy and not simply sticking with the facts.
It’s unfortunate because the facts are fascinating in and of themselves. I wonder if Schwartz isn’t aching to write a novel and I wish he had saved some of his more fanciful explanations for such a novel, one that fleshes out the fact into glorious fiction.
Nevertheless, I found this book to be a delight and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And for those who only know the MGM movie, I would recommend reading the novel first and then reading this book if so inclined.