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Ranjit S. Dighe, ed. The Historian's Wizard of Oz: Reading L. Frank Baum's Classic as a Political and Monetary Allegory.(Book Review)

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From: Utopian Studies
Date: 20030101
Author:Vella, Lia

Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002. xi + 149 pp. $59.95 (cloth); $21.95 (paper).

I'VE STOPPED TELLING PEOPLE I study L. Frank Baum's works because I've gotten tired of hearing the common responses: "Don't the shoes represent something political?" "Doesn't the yellow brick road symbolize gold?" "What exactly do the winged monkeys represent, anyway?" These sorts of questions, combined with the confusion generated by the differences between Wizard of Oz and its film adaptation, often impede intelligent conversation between an Oz scholar and the general public. People seem to love neat ...

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