The Latest Oz Reading

Yes, I'm reading a lot of Oz stuff again. Not only that, I also have a pile of stuff I've read but not discussed here yet, some going back two or three years now! Yes, it's been a crazy time for me, but I'm on my summer break right now and I'm trying to deal with a lot of the clutter in my life right now, while I have the chance, before my summer gets extremely crazy in a few weeks. But more on that as things get closer, although there may be some hints in what I've been reading. Let's start with some books I've reread:

• The Lost Princess of oz by L. Frank Baum. My slow progression through the Oz books, in order, has reached 1917. Lost Princess is particularly important to me because it was the last of the Baum books I owned as a kid, although I'd read the library's copy first. I then got it for Christmas from my always-supportivg grandparents. Looking in that original Reilly & Lee white edition, I noted the the inscription read 1975. This was a little over a year after I started collecting the books, so this year marks my fiftieth year as an Oz fan! Getting back to the story itself, it does hold up as an exciting adventure. It might seem overwhelming to keep track of as many characters as Baum put into this book, but they're all distinctive (well, except maybe for Betsy Bobbin and Trot), and it's plot is tight. Perhaps Baum should have introduced Ugu a little earlier, but the shock opening of so much Oz magic missing all at once certainly grabs the reader.
• Kabumbo in Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson. No, I'm not jumping ahead in my FF reading, it's just that the long-delayed Clover Press edition, with new illustartions by Sara Richard, arrived. Richard's style is a lot different from John R. Neill's, but her work is still gloriously Ozzy. Naturally she had to draw Ruggedo as a giant with the palace on his head, and it has the same impact as Neill's version. My biggest complaint is that there aren't enough illustrations. Come on, Clover Press, Oz is such a vivid place, let's see more of what it looks like! If you can't spring for more full-page color illustrations, put some black-and-white line drawings in the text.
• Grampa in Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Since it turns one hundred this year, and I needed some information from it for something coming up, I thought I'd also reread another Thompson book. I've always said that the basic stories of both Kabumpo and Grampa are the same, and reading them back to back just cemented that for me. These are archtypical Thompson, with a prince going out into Oz to save the kingdom and find a wife, only to find that their future bride was already traveling with them under an enchantment. That doesn't make Grampa any less fun, as it also has unusual locations and characters. Grampa didn't strike me as being quite as strong as Kabumpo, but it was still a fun read.
• Visitors from Oz by Martin Gardner. Did I mention my busy summer coming up? I wanted to reread this for another project that's coming up. For a book about Dorothy traveling back to modern-day America, she takes an awfully long time to get there. And when Gardner takes unnecessary side plots, he doesn't mess around! On their way to the remote part of Oz where they can visit America, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Sawhorse end up visiting the old Greek gods of Olympus and Wonderland! But after these diversions, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman finally make it to modern-day New York to help a movie mogul publicize his upcoming Oz movie. It goes about as well as you'd expect, with the tabloid press accusing them of being actors (and the Tin Woodman a robot), a rival studio sending mobsters to go after them, you know, the usual sort of thing. It is pretty clover, though, and Dorothy has much to contemplate about how much America has changed since she last lived there. This being Gardner, mathematics is used in a clever way to travel between Oz and New York. I think Gardner was much more successful writing articles and essays about Oz, but an a one-time experiment, this is a fun one.
• Master Cornhill by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. My reread of the works of Eloise Jarvis Mcraw has hit the '70s, and this is one of my favorites. Michael Cornhill is eleven and finds himself on his own in London during the Plague and must figure out how to survive. He taken under the wing of Tom Godfrey, a balladeer, but his friend Susanna keeps reminding him that it's not the only, or best, way to make ones lot in life. Then the Great Fire of London strikes, and everyone does all that they can to survive. McGraw had written historicals about ancient Egypt and the Old West, but this is her first one about Great Britian, and it's clear she's done her research. The little details and Michael's reactions feel so genuine and give a real sense of what seventeenth century London must have been like.
• One new book I recently read seems to be the second of a series of non-Oz books by L. Frank Baum, after The Maid of Arran. The new reprint edition of The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors makes one of Baum's rarest books available again. This is for Baum completists only, as it's exactly what the title says. It's an interesting time capsule of the early days of department stores and how they attracted customers. Baum compiled many clever ways for stores to display their wares and draw people in. Had his fiction writing career not taken off the way it did, this kind of work may have supported Baum instead. Since I've now read some new Baum reprints, I'm now adding Baum's non-Oz books into my regular readings, but most of them I already have and they'll be rereadings.

The Latest Oz Reading

I got the new Clover Press edition of The Royal Book of Oz, and decided I wasn't going to wait to read it in its proper place in my reread of the Famous Forty. Since it has new illustrations anyway, I justify it as not being exactly the same. (Don't worry, I'll read it again—the original, this time—when it comes up in order.) I hear there were a few minor textual tweaks to reflect changing attitudes, but I didn't notice anything. The big draw for this edition is the new illustrations by Sara Richard. She has a more modern, colorful, dynamic style that is certainly different, and leaves out a lot of the issues with Neill's originals (she barely shows anything of the Silver Islands, and the only inhabitant she shows is Happy Toko). I suspect, however, that these may not age any better than Neill's. They clearly show who the characters are, however. I was especially amused by Ozma's bangs hanging so far over her face, I was expecting her to sing "Chandelier". At any rate, it's nice to see someone taking Ruth Plumly Thompson seriously as an author, and while I doubt this edition won't make anyone forget about the original, it does make for a nice complement.

The Latest Oz Reading

No, I haven't gotten into my latest cycle of Oz reading yet, although that may be starting up very soon. But the annual Dunkiton Press anthology just came from long-time Oz fan Ruth Berman the other day, and so of course I have to give it a plug. Berman finds all kinds of rare and unusual items by Oz contributors in early twentieth century newspapers, and puts them together in themed collections. This year's twenty-ninth issue is the third collection of poems and short stories by Ruh Plumly Thompson, all about mice. It's full of Thompson's usual charm and heart, of course. Go check out what else she has, you may find something you like.

This Week's Oz Short Play

Yes, this week we break format and look at "A Day in Oz" by Ruth Plumly Thompson, a short play presented in department stores during the '20s to publicize the new Oz book. The Baum Bugle published the 1929 issue, supporting Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz, in its Autumn 1970 issue. It's little more than an excuse for the main Oz characters to get together and talk about the land of Oz, while Jack comes in at the end and gives some hints about his latest adventures. It does open extremely cute with the Scarecrow looking for the Patchwork Girl, who is looking for new patches in the rag bag that's on stage as the show starts. They sing a few songs (which are not included here) and interact with the kids in the audience a bit. Considering the purpose for which this show was written, it does its job well.

The Bugle also mentions another show used for publicity, "Schooldays in the Land of Oz" by Eleanor Macmillan. It would be interesting if someone could track down these shows (and any others that may have turned up since 1970) and publish them all in a small book. Putting together all the different versions of "A Day in Oz", including the music, would be a fascinating look into how the Oz books were publicized, and make more of Ruth Plumly Thompson's Oz writing available.

The 31 Days of Halloween, Oz Style: Day 3

Yesterday's Halloween star was, of course, Jack Pumpkinhead. So today, we feature the eponymous book that just about every Oz character gets, Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz, written by the second Royal Historian of Oz, Ruth Plumly Thompson, and published in 1929. Besides Jack, the main character is Peter Brown, a boy from Philadelphia that Thompson first introduced two years earlier, and who would get one more trip to Oz two years later. Peter transports himself to Oz (hey, it happens) near Jack's house, and the two of them set off for the Emerald City so that Peter can get home again, but they get turned around and lose themselves in the wilds of the Quadling Country. (Good thing, too; otherwise, it would have been a very short book). A lot of the action happens because of Jack's nature as a pumpkin-headed character (and the resolution of the main plot is particularly clever, in my opinion), especially when they reach one of the Halloweeniest places ever seen in the Oz books, Scare City. The Scares are just as you might imagine, a race of scary people who set out to frighten travelers. The town itself is dark and creepy, and the pets are all black cats. Let's just say it's not the nicest place to visit. Fortunately, Peter's resourcefulness and Jack's head help take care of the Scare's attempts to frighten them, and they make it out intact.

The Latest Oz Reading

I recently received the 2017 edition of Dunkiton Press, the twenty-sixth consecutive annual issue, reprinting old newspaper material by Oz authors and illustrators. This year, it's more of Ruth Plumly Thompson's "Perhappsy Chaps" poems from the Philadelphia Public Ledger. They are very helpful little chaps, finding ways to aid children all over the country and make their lives a little better—or just having their own fun. The Perhappsies deal with Valentine's Day, pirates, a princess, a giant and a baby, and a gingerbread city. And with this issue, the Dunkiton Press series publishes the last of the poems to be reprinted in the book edition. I gather there are a few more, however, that may be appearing in future editions.

The Latest Oz Reading

Yes! At last! A post that isn't about a new comic strip! I am slowly getting out from under a pile of all kinds of stuff and catching up on others, such as my reading. I have a number of Oz and Oz-related books I've recently reread, so here are a few quick overviews:

• Rinkitink in Oz by L. Frank Baum. Yeah, this was not supposed to be the next volume of my reread of the entire Famous Forty (and related books). But with the book being the main theme of this year's OzCon International, and me scheduled to give a keynote speech on it, I figured I'd better jump ahead and tackle that. Since the original non-Oz version of the story was written around 1905, not long after The Marvelous Land of Oz, I figured I was justified anyway. I have always felt Rinkitink is an undersung Oz book, because it is one of Baum's most tightly plotted books, at least for nineteen chapters, and the development of the three main characters over the course of the book is a great added layer. I really enjoyed reading this again, and I found all kinds of extra bits that I'd never noticed before (or at least don't remember).
• The Curious Cruise of Captain Santa by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Another of our theme books, and one I needed to read for a panel. This is a fun little romp about Santa Claus sailing around the ocean finding new toys. It was aimed at younger readers than the Oz books, and it shows. Heck, it took me only an hour to read. It ended with the hint that there may be more adventures, and it's too bad she never wrote them.
• Captain Salt in Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Okay, no justification for reading this one out of order, except it was yet another theme book at the convention, and the other book that went with The Curious Cruise of Captain Santa on one panel. Like the previous book, this is basically an excuse to write about a trip at sea. Captain Samuel Salt, King Ato, and Roger the Read Bird (last seen in Pirates in Oz) are off to find new islands to become part of Oz. (Yeah, at one point Ozma apparently had dreams of empire. Some have said it was just an excuse to get Sammy out of Oz and Ozma's hair!) It's a pretty straightforward, episodic tale, but the throughline is Tazander Tazah, the young king of Ozamaland who was kidnapped, and found on one of the islands. He is suffering from, as Ato put it, "ingrowing Royalitis", acting high and mighty and treating his rescuers as his servants. It is Roger who is the main one to gently tamp that down and bring out his true nature, but Sammy and Ato also help to truly integrate him into the crew. Tandy's growth and development is not something seen in a lot of Thompson's books, and it gives Captain Salt in Oz a lot more depth than should be expected. This is one book I haven't read as much as some of the others, but I am certainly glad I got the chance to read it this time. (And it's far enough back in the series, by the time I get to it in the proper order, I will likely read it again!)
• Toto in Oz by Chris Dulabone. This is the twentieth anniversary edition of the first book Dulabone published, way back when his imprint was Buckethead Enterprises of Oz. I've been supporting Chris and his books from the very beginning, so it was a lot of fun to revisit this one again after so long. Fortunately, this edition has much better typesetting (if you've ever seen the first edition of this book, you'll completely understand why this is a good thing). Toto, not feeling appreciated and having no title, runs away from the Emerald City and, through a few misadventures, ends up as the leader of the small kingdom of Arfrica. He tries to do a good job and bring about reform, but he also finds it isn't as easy as it looks. Of course Dorothy ends up looking for him too. It all comes to a satisfying, if somewhat rushed, ending.
• And finally (for now), Visitors from Oz by Martin Gardner. I got interested in rereading this while reading A Bouquet for the Gardener on my last wave of reading. This is Gardner's only Oz novel, and it is certainly far from the best. But it is a lot of fun, particularly if you know about Martin Gardner, his place in Oz fandom, and his other interests. It acts as two books, with the first part being a typical journey by Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman through Oz. Along the way, they meet up with the Greek gods, take a side trip through Wonderland, and deal with a detective bear and a giant. But it's the second half where things get real different. The three of them have been requested to visit America by a movie mogul and Oz fan making a musical film version of The Emerald City of Oz, so that they can drum up interest and publicity. Naturally, the rival studio boss doesn't like it much, and uses nefarious means to deal with the Oz people. Of course, magic gets involved and things all turn out well in the end. Having Dorothy and friends in New York City is a different setting for an Oz book, and Gardner has some fun with it. From this author, one would also expect some mathematics, so naturally a Klein bottle is used to travel between Oz and Central Park. It is a fun little romp of a book, and I'm glad that Gardner was finally able to fulfill that old Oz fan saying, "Scratch an Oz fan, find an Oz book."

Okay, that's all the recent rereads. Soon, I hope to report on some stuff I've read for the very first time!

The latest Oz reading

I'm still working on an old sci-fi novel (how's that for a teaser?), but I snuck in the latest edition of Ruth Berman's Dunkiton series. This year's edition is the eighteenth annual edition, and is the second issue to celebrate Thanksgiving. Fun fact I learned from this issue: Football games have been associated with Thanksgiving for over a hundred years. There is a very nice John R. Neill newspaper illustration reproduced here, and a short story and some poems by Ruth Plumly Thompson from her newspaper days, before she started writing Oz books. I highly recommend the Dunkiton series for those who want to see some of the non-Oz work of early Royal Historians and illustrators, and they're pretty darned inexpensive, too.