Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - by Gregory Maguire

I first tried to read this book twenty or so years ago, but the demands of taking care of a preschooler kept me from keeping up with this rather lengthy novel, so I abandoned it. I also reasoned (at the time) that it might make more sense once I read the entire "Oz" series. I came across a copy last summer at a used bookstore for $1 and decided to give it another try. It took about a month, but I made it through this time (although I didn't remember enough about the original Oz books for it to have made any difference in my understanding).

Maguire's adaptation is the story of Elphaba (aka The Wicked Witch of the West) - a misunderstood woman (and college roommate of Glinda). Much of the story surrounds a debate around the rights of Animals (who can talk), and animals (who cannot). It seemed rather prescient for a book written in 1995.

Several characters work in libraries. Elphaba works with Doctor Dillamond (a Goat) in a "lab and library". She also helps Doctor Dillamond with research at the Crage Hall Library, looking for evidence that Animals should have any restrictions placed upon them removed.

Another character (Boq) takes a job in the Three Queens Library "under the watchful eye of a titanic Rhinocerus, the head archival librarian". 

Ozma is identified in a number of ways, including "Librarian" who "did nothing but read genealogies for her whole life long". Other identities include

• Ozma the Mendacious
• Ozma the Warrior
• Ozma the Scarcely Beloved  
• Ozma the Bilious

There are other mentions of libraries throughout, making it clear that they were an inherent part of the Oz landscape.

All the Oz books - by L. Frank Baum

It took me a bit over a year to read all fourteen "Oz" books. Each was actually a pretty quick read, but I read other books in between. I immediately began to see certain similarities between this series and the Harry Potter books, beginning with the fact that both Harry and Dorothy live with their aunt and uncle and sometimes travel to a magical place. Both Harry and Dorothy encounter, and overcome, evil. A century after the Oz books were written we can also see a parallel in the anticipation that surrounded the publication of each of the Oz book with excitement that came with the release of each of J.K. Rowling's stories, and both sets of books have the same wide appeal across genders, and ages.  It is especially interesting to note the wide appeal of the Oz books as they were written as fantasy stories in which girls (Dorothy, Ozma, and Glinda) were the protagonists and the leaders, providing cause to question the conventional wisdom that boys won't read stories about girls. Even the wizard learned all his magic from Glinda.

While the only library in the Oz books was Glinda's personal library, it is noteworthy in that she had one especially important work : the Record Book "on the pages of which are constantly being printed a record of every event that happens in any part of the world, at exactly the moment it happens." She uses this for good only, but I really saw her, and her partner Ozma, as benevolent dictators. In conjunction with the Record Book, Ozma owned a "Magic Picture" in which she could see anything happening anywhere whenever she wanted. Only Glinda, the Wizard, and Ozma were legally allowed to make magic in the land of Oz. Others knew how, but were not allowed to use it. Whenever Ozma found out about someone else using magic she immediately went to quash it, with faithful Dorothy along to help explain the laws.

In the 1960s there developed a theory about these books, that they were a populist allegory. Although there does seem to be ample evidence of this, it is probably not the case. It was most likely written simply as a fairy tale, although I must say that Ozma's spying and Glinda's data collection seemed to predict some contemporary news stories as well!

One other similarity between the Oz books and the Harry Potter books is that both series had their censors. (Read my Harry Potter Banned Book post here). In a true twist on book banning, however, it was librarians themselves who often kept the Oz books off library shelves until the 1960s, believing the fantasy aspect of the books was "unhealthy" for children.

Love Overdue - by Pamela Morsi

I don't believe I have ever read a Harlequin Romance before. I rarely read romance novels, and I admit to becoming somewhat jaded about them during my long ago bookstore clerk days. The series romances would come in monthly installments, and then the same women (they were always women) would show up and buy the lot of them. I would hear them chattering while they waited in line about how they needed to get to the store the day they came out, lest they miss one. Occasionally, they would explain that such a calamity had befallen them at some point in the past, and they were not about to let it happen again. Even without reading these novels I sensed that they were all pretty much the same, and couldn't understand why missing one was such a big deal. I once made the mistake of suggesting to one of our customers that perhaps she could go to the library and read the books she was missing. No, this was not good enough because, she explained, she needed to own them.

So anyway, I read a review of Morsi's novel in one on the endless stream of trade magazines that comes across my desk, and just couldn't resist putting in an Interlibrary loan request for it. Just take a look at the cover! Look at those sensible shoes! I must admit that this was a fun mindless read. The story starts with librarian Dorothy Jarrow moving to Kansas with her little dog. The "Oz" allusions continue throughout without any subtlety. In fact, there is nothing subtle about this book. Morsi appears to have had a lot of fun playing with the stereotypes, which again, she didn't even try to pretend were anything else:

"...librarians were expected to be law-abiding, as well as sedate, slightly stuffy and incredibly sexless. D.J. was pretty certain she fit that bill perfectly."

It is suggested that the new librarian must be "a homely old maid, married to her cat." Disbelief is expressed when someone says that she actually "looks kind of pretty."

Despite the fact that she is young and "kind of pretty" she is also described as going for that "old maid look... [with a] stuffy business suit, gray on gray with her hair pulled back into a little bun like somebody's grandmother." Variations on this description pop up several more times throughout.

The book flashes back several times, however, to a Dorothy who is eight years younger, and enjoying spring break at South Padre Island, Texas. And it is here that we find out that the librarian is perhaps not as stuffy as she makes herself out to be. Will she ever remove those "bookworm" glasses and let her hair down again? The answer, of course, was not really a big surprise.

I will also say that despite having a rather stereotypical look about her, D.J. is portrayed as a very competent librarian - recognizing how she can better serve her community; figuring out how to rearrange the library for better light; and she of course believes that everyone, including children, should be able to select their own reading materials. She is anti-book banning, and anti-censorship.

One other thing I should point out is that this work not only has a librarian, but also a busybody Library Trustee whom D.J., for some reason, thinks should call her "Ms. Jarrow". Really? I'm a trustee, and we all use first names.

Although entirely predictable (really, there was not plot turn that I didn't see coming pages out) I have to admit to enjoying this one. This is not to say I'm about to start a romance book subscription, or wait in line at the bookstore once a month.

Was - by Geoff Ryman

My friend Brendan is very good at picking out books that he thinks I will like. When he recommended this one I asked if there were any librarians in it, and he said he thought maybe there were because one of the characters was doing a bit of research. As it turned out, this one has quite a few different references to libraries and librarians, but, unlike me, Brendan wasn't on the lookout for them when he read it.

This novel tells the "back story" of Dorothy Gael (yes, the one from the Wizard of Oz), who according to Ryman, bullied her classmates, and was sexually abused by Uncle Henry. It is also the story of Jonathan, who goes on a quest to find the "real Dorothy" in his last days on Earth, and Jonathan's therapist Bob, who actually knew "Dotty" before she died. There is also some of the story of Judy Garland's family, and the making  of The Wizard of Oz movie. It was very hard to tell how much was true and what wasn't. Fortunately the last pages of the book are a "Reality Check" in which Ryman sheds some light on some of the questions I had, as well as acknowledging the librarians who assisted with his own reearch.

There are about a dozen references to libraries or librarians in the book, and as Brendan recalled, some of them had to do with Jonathan's research, in which he visited libraries and public archives in California, and Kansas. We also learn that as a child Jonathan hated most books, and even "tore up a library book called Anatole." One of the few books he loved, of course, was The Wizard of Oz. I was disturbed to find out that up until about the 1960s Frank Baum's books were generally kept off of library shelves, mostly due to librarians' beliefs that the the fantasy aspect was unhealthy for children. The Oz books were not listed on recommended reading lists, nor were they mentioned in critcal works of children's literature. This article from the Chicago Tribune tells more.

I am always interested when I see references to the librarian stereotype. In describing Jonathan's ex-girlfriend Ryman simply says "She looked like a librarian....She was serious." There is no expansion in the description, Ryman is clearly sure, in the use of this simile, that readers will picture the same archetypical, bookish person. I wish I could become indignant about this, but sadly, I must admit that whenever I attend I librarian conference I am reminded that the stereotype is, all too often, deserved.

One of the books on my to-read list in What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank, I learned from Was that an editorial of the same name was published in the late 1800s by William Allen White. Reading the description of "the bookroom" at Dorothy's school gave me cause to consider the question myself.

"There was one table and shelves of spare textbooks. Proud as they were of their schools, even the people of Kansas could not call this a library."

Brendan was right on recommending this one for me. I like a surreal novel, especially one with libraries.