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Wicked

The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

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About this listen

The New York Times bestseller that inspired the Tony-winning hit musical and major motion picture

OVER 6 MILLION COPIES SOLD

Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and not long after entering Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz's most promising young citizens.

But Elphaba's Oz is no utopia. The Wizard's secret police are everywhere.

Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance.

Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.

"An astonishing achievement."—Philip Pullman

©1995 Gregory Maguire (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC Classics Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Magic Magic Users Witchcraft Scary Paranormal

Critic reviews

"A staggering feat of wordcraft." ( Los Angeles Times)
"McDonough's excellent portrayals of Elphaba's outspoken, gravel-voiced nanny, Glinda's snobbish friends, and the wide-eyed, soft-spoken Dorothy make this excursion to Oz worthwhile." ( Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant
Extremely well read. Nice to listen to. A great story. tough to start, but in the middle now and can't put it down and look forward to it every night!

ooooooh!

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I couldn’t stop listening fans of the musical will love this book can’t wait to start the next in the series

Loved it

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Surprisingly darker, different to what the musical shows and makes me want to explore the rest of the series, at least the sequel.

Not as expected - which is a good thing!

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The narration is great if a little slow but the book itself is very mediocre. There is no need to compare it with the musical as the musical is just a really loose adaptation of the book, a fanfiction even. The world is purely built as a vessel for the authors political commentary. It has dark themes and gets really creepy at times. Even though the protagonist is a female character, the author can't seem to be able to write women (nor their relationships) as three dimensional, interesting and complex beings. Fiyero was better written and had more character development than Elphaba.... It's an ok book, nothing groundbreaking. Do not recommend anyone under 14 to read it.

Perfect narration, mid book

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Really couldn't get into this. Didn't particularly like any of the characters, although Elphy did grow on me a bit. I forced myself to listen to it all, but I probably shouldn't have bothered. I've never seen the musical, so had no expectations based on that.

tedious and depressing

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