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

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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!

Once upon a time I was cast in a production of THE WIZARD OF OZ and began doing some research not only into Oz, but into the man who created that world, L. Frank Baum. One of the books I read as part of my research was FINDING OZ.

The book is flows smoothly and is rather easy to read. The premise of the book is that many of the characters, events, and places in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ were inspired by people, events, and places from Baum's own life. FINDING OZ attempts to illustrate just what all those people, events, and places were. The book begins with Baum's familial background and his birth and follows his life until just after the major success of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.

Though the story moves along very smoothly and is filled with facts, as a biography the book isn't very good. FINDING OZ is filled with suppositions. For instance, when discussing a time when Baum went to meet his future wife, Maud Gage, the author makes all kinds of suppositions from the probabilities of the things they would have worn, to how Baum would have arrived, to what songs were sung, to how long Baum spent at the house, etc. I realize these suppositions were included to keep the book smoothly flowing. However, they aren't factual and I felt that they took away more than they added.

I also didn't like how the author tried to find a real-life reason for all of the major events, places, and characters in Oz. As Baum clearly points out in his own introduction to THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, the story is supposed to be an American fairy tale. It's not a parable or an allegory. We do know that there are certain things that did inspire Baum's tale, for instance his niece Dorothy who died at an early age, the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and Baum's experiences selling china (the Dainty Chinaland chapter in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ all makes sense now). However, not everything in the novel was inspired by something else. Sometimes a story is just a story, and I often felt while reading FINDING OZ that the author forgot that.

The book also ends rather abruptly. It spends a great deal of time on Baum's life leading up to the publication of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, but very little time on the events of his life after that. Baum wrote many other books and though none were as successful as the first Oz book, he was one of the most famous and successful authors of his time. He went back to the Oz books because the public demanded them. If people, places, and events in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ were so closely based upon real-life, were the people, places, and events of the sequels also based upon real things? The author never comes near that question and FINDING OZ basically ends after the success of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.

That's not to say FINDING OZ is a terrible book because it's not. The book is entertaining and is occasionally informative. For instance, the author makes it clear that Baum did not base THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ upon Populist politics of the day as several historians and theorists have suggested in the past. In fact, Baum was a staunch lifelong Republican. The book also gives a great deal of insight into Matilda Gage and her relationship with her son-in-law.

FINDING OZ was a mixed-bag for me. The structure flows as smooth as a novel, but the major faults of the book kept me from enjoying it as much as I have similar-themed works of non-fiction.

Evan Schwartz's biographical book tells L. Frank Baum's life story as a journey of self-discovery, shedding a lot of light on the influences that went into Baum's writings. It is a very detailed story with lots of assumptions that may disturb some readers and interest others.

To me, the interplay between Baum and his mother-in-law Matilda Joslyn Gage is one of the most interesting aspects of the book. Gage was the most radical of the 19th century U.S. feminists whose extreme positions have marginalized her in history. She spent much time living with the Baum and her daughter Maud. It was she that introduced Baum to Theosophy, a belief that was to influence Baum's life and stories.

This is a bibliographic biography since Schwartz always keeps the Oz books in mind as he reviews the events of Baum's life.

Truly a great book for Oz fans, but also an interesting look at 19th century America.

Great subject for a book. But the author uses a VERY heavy hand to pound in Jungian psychology and New Age thinking at every twist and turn of Baum's life. It's unfortunate and distracting, greatly weakening the book.

If you're an aging Baby Boomer with a taste for New Age scrambles, this might sound great. For me, it's an unwarranted intrusion and made the book tedious by midsection. It makes the book boring.

The author injects too much dubious Jungian interpretation into the facts. It gets in the way of the narrative. Best to check this out from the library rather than buy it and own it.

'Finding Oz' is intelligently written and engaging. Evan Schwartz weaves passages from Baum's novel in between his account of Baum's life and late 19th century America. There really was a yellow brick road...but heck, no more spoilers here. For Oz fans and anyone interested in what inspired this great American story, and everyone who has seen the movie, I highly recommend this enchanting book.

For those of you who are only familiar with the works of L. Frank Baum through the MGM movie, The Wizard of Oz, I must correct a terrible misconception. Dorothy didn't dream Oz.
Oz is real. 26 novels real. And The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on which the MGM extravaganza is based isn't even the best of the series. I am particularly partial to The Patchwork Girl and The Emerald City of Oz.
When I was a child, my mother read to us from her well- loved childhood copies of the Oz books. At the end of every chapter, my brother and I begged for one more chapter-- pleeeze! To my mother's great relief, we eventually were able to read the series on our own. I have read all 26 novels more than once and still find them remarkable.
As Evan Schwartz points out in his biography of L. Frank Baum, "Finding Oz," the Oz books were the first authentically American fairy tales. Waves of immigrants had brought their own fables to America, but the Oz books are the first distinctly American fantasy, complete with farms, chickens, and Kansas!
Prior to his late life success as an author, Baum tried his hand at many different occupations, including actor, china salesman, chicken farmer, and journalist. Late 19th C America was an unforgiving environment for the only sporadically employed, but despite his hardships, Baum never lost his good humor or his knack for storytelling.
Schwartz's account of Baum's life is more convincing than his efforts at literary analysis. Seeking the mystical meaning behind the Oz stories is a popular exercise. Academics have inflicted similar analysis on A. A. Milne's Pooh series. (You can find both "The Zen of Oz" and "The Tao of Poohand the Te of Piglet" at your local bookstore.) While it is more than possible that Baum's writing was influenced by Theosophy to which he, his wife, and mother- in- law were adherents, some of Mr. Schwartz's other theories seem a bit farfetched. Toto is not just a cute name for dog, but rather taken from the Latin phrase in toto. And even more suspect, is the theory that the character of the Cowardly Lion was inspired by Sitting Bull!
Aside from the overwrought, albeit intriguing, literary analysis, "Finding Oz" is a first-rate biography. Serious Oz fans will enjoy the discussion of the sources of Baum's inspiration, but history buffs will appreciate the portrayal of turn of the century America.

I first saw this book about 9 months ago, and although I didn't buy it at the time, I kept it in the back of my mind. When summer reading time rolled around, I knew right away that this was the book I wanted to read.

And I was definitely a little disappointed.

As other reviewers have suggested, the story is A LOT speculation. A variety of interesting ideas were presented, but the reading felt a little monotonous. I wanted facts.

The last three chapters of the book were the best - they essentially summarized in a more concise manner what had been stated in the rest of the book and really contained the content I had so desired when purchasing this book.

Do I regret reading this book? Not at all. The Wizard of Oz is one of my all time favorite movies and I've always enjoyed learning more about the story. As America's first real and very beloved fairy tale, it was great to learn about where it came from and the dynamic forces that inspired some of the characters and concepts. This book puts to rest the myth that the story is a parable about the industrial revolution.

This book was so good I could hardly put it down. I am reccomending to all of my friends. I will certainly reccomend it to my book club. This is now one of my favorite books.