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Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story
A groundbreaking new look at an American icon, The Wizard of Oz.
Finding Oz tells the remarkable tale behind one of the world’s most enduring and best loved stories. Offering profound new insights into the true origins and meaning of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 masterwork, it delves into the personal turmoil and spiritual transformation that fueled Baum’s fantastical parable of the American Dream.
Prior to becoming an impresario of children’s adventure tales—the J. K. Rowling of his age—Baum failed at a series of careers and nearly lost his soul before setting out on a journey of discovery that would lead to the Land of Oz. Drawing on original research, Evan Schwartz debunks popular misconceptions and shows how the people, places, and events in Baum’s life gave birth to his unforgettable images and characters. The Yellow Brick Road was real, the Emerald City evoked the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, and Baum’s mother-in-law, the radical women’s rights leader Matilda Joslyn Gage, inspired his dual view of witches—as good and wicked.
A narrative that sweeps across late nineteenth-century America, Finding Oz ultimately reveals how failure and heartbreak can sometimes lead to redemption and bliss, and how one individual can ignite the imagination of the entire world.
Finding Oz tells the remarkable tale behind one of the world’s most enduring and best loved stories. Offering profound new insights into the true origins and meaning of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 masterwork, it delves into the personal turmoil and spiritual transformation that fueled Baum’s fantastical parable of the American Dream.
Prior to becoming an impresario of children’s adventure tales—the J. K. Rowling of his age—Baum failed at a series of careers and nearly lost his soul before setting out on a journey of discovery that would lead to the Land of Oz. Drawing on original research, Evan Schwartz debunks popular misconceptions and shows how the people, places, and events in Baum’s life gave birth to his unforgettable images and characters. The Yellow Brick Road was real, the Emerald City evoked the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, and Baum’s mother-in-law, the radical women’s rights leader Matilda Joslyn Gage, inspired his dual view of witches—as good and wicked.
A narrative that sweeps across late nineteenth-century America, Finding Oz ultimately reveals how failure and heartbreak can sometimes lead to redemption and bliss, and how one individual can ignite the imagination of the entire world.
374 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
81 people are currently reading
755 people want to read
About the author
Evan I. Schwartz
9 books8 followersEvan I. Schwartz writes about history, innovation, tech, music, and media.
He is the author of The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television (HarperCollins), named by Amazon Books as one of “100 Biographies & Memoirs to Read in a Lifetime.”
His book Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story (Houghton Mifflin) is a narrative about the origins of a cultural icon, The Wizard of Oz.
His first book, Webonomics, was the #24 bestselling book on Amazon.com for the year 1997 (when only geeks bought stuff on the Internet), and his second book, Digital Darwinism, was a New York Times bestseller. Both are published by Broadway/Random House.
His 2021 book, REVOLVER: a novel, was issued as a free paperback, direct by mail, from the Concord Free Press, a 501c3 that promotes generosity through reading.
Schwartz has taught writing at Boston University and Tufts University.
He is the author of The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television (HarperCollins), named by Amazon Books as one of “100 Biographies & Memoirs to Read in a Lifetime.”
His book Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story (Houghton Mifflin) is a narrative about the origins of a cultural icon, The Wizard of Oz.
His first book, Webonomics, was the #24 bestselling book on Amazon.com for the year 1997 (when only geeks bought stuff on the Internet), and his second book, Digital Darwinism, was a New York Times bestseller. Both are published by Broadway/Random House.
His 2021 book, REVOLVER: a novel, was issued as a free paperback, direct by mail, from the Concord Free Press, a 501c3 that promotes generosity through reading.
Schwartz has taught writing at Boston University and Tufts University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
January 18, 2024
"One day in 1898, an unusual sequence of images leaped from one man's mind: A gray Kansas prairie. A lively girl with a brave little dog. A terrifying twister. A mystical land ruled by both good and wicked witches."
This proved a fascinating, in-depth look at the man behind the Land of Oz, from his privileged upbringing to his final days and everything in between that inspired him to bring a classic American fairy tale to life.
This proved a fascinating, in-depth look at the man behind the Land of Oz, from his privileged upbringing to his final days and everything in between that inspired him to bring a classic American fairy tale to life.
December 7, 2009
Everybody loves the 1939 MGM Wizard of Oz, but for some aficionados of L. Frank Baum's works, the film that better captures the essence of Baum's vision is the 1985 Disney-produced Return to Oz. Directed by Oscar-winning sound and film editor Walter Murch, it was a critical and commercial flop, perhaps because it doesn't stint on the dark and scary. Any kid who was freaked out by the witch and the flying monkeys of the MGM movie will be traumatized by the genuine weirdness of the Disney version, which begins with Dorothy consigned to a mental hospital because she can't stop talking about this place she calls Oz.
The truth is, Baum's Oz was always a weird and scary place, but what Murch's film gets particularly right is the author's very American ambivalence toward technology. Production designer Norman Reynolds nails it brilliantly with some steampunk-inspired creations: on the one hand such late-Victorian horrors as the gruesome electroshock machine with which Dorothy is threatened in the hospital, and on the other the lovable mechanical man Tik-Tok. The film underscores what Evan I. Schwartz suggests in his new book on the life and times of L. Frank Baum, that the road to the Emerald City began in the White City: the lathe-and-plaster facades of the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, behind which such technological innovations as electric light, the phonograph and motion pictures mingled with carnival humbug. And that among the prototypes for Baum's Wizard of Oz were both the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas A. Edison, and the master of conning the suckers, P.T. Barnum.
Baum was 44 when he published the story that made him rich and famous. He had been a chicken farmer, an actor and playwright, a marketer of petroleum products, a shopkeeper, a newspaperman and a traveling salesman. He restlessly moved his family from Syracuse, New York, to the Dakota Territory, to Chicago and – after the success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – to the place where restless Americans usually wind up: California. And in all of these places he encountered things that would work their way out of his memories and into his fiction. As Schwartz says, “Things he had seen in his life and had filed away for some later use were now rushing back and coming out on scraps of paper,” from the yellow brick road that led to the military school he attended (and hated) as a boy, to the fragile porcelain dishes and figurines he lugged about in his suitcase as a salesman, the inspiration for the first Oz book's Dainty China Country.
Schwartz does a fine job of unearthing the origins of Oz, and of portraying Baum as very much a man of his times – the era of the vanishing frontier and the uneasy transition from Victorianism into modernity. Among the major influences Schwartz singles out is Baum's mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage, an ardent proponent of women's rights. Although Baum fathered four sons and no daughters, he gave his first Oz book a heroine, and the hero of his second Oz book, the boy Tip, turns out to be the princess Ozma, the victim of a sex-change spell. Matilda Gage was also a devotee of Theosophy, the belief system that Helena Petrovna Blavatsky synthesized out of elements of neo-Platonism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Baum was intrigued by Theosophy and by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, who made a sensational appearance at the Columbian Exposition.
Schwartz observes that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz “is less a coming-of-age story ... and more a transformation-of-consciousness story. Like the Buddha, Dorothy attains enlightenment.” Still, he maybe lays it on a bit thick by describing Dorothy's travels as “a journey guided by Eastern philosophy” or suggesting that Oz exists on Theosophy's “Astral Plane”: “To embark on her journey, the girl would have her own samadhi moment, projecting herself through the eye of the cyclone into the mystical realm.” Schwartz is better at dealing with the physical world than the spiritual one, as was Baum: “Frank understood from the start that the entire premise was absurd, which is why he presented the goal of his main character with humor, the real lessons of the journey to be learned from encounters with comedic characters.”
Finding Oz is underpinned by solid research, although there are times when Schwartz's sleuthing into the things Baum “had filed away for some later use” leads him into some strained conclusions. For example, he posits some kind of imaginative link between the field of lethal red poppies Dorothy encounters on the way to the Emerald City and the killing fields of Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee. And perhaps his assessment of Baum's achievement is a shade on the hyperbolic side: “Certainly no one on any list of American luminaries has ignited the imagination of the world quite like L. Frank Baum.”
If we put Baum in the company of such “luminaries” as Washington and Lincoln, Edison and the Wright Brothers and Henry Ford, Mark Twain and Walt Disney, he may not seem like as much a standout as Schwartz thinks. But the fact remains that, 109 years later, Oz continues to inspire sequels and prequels on page and stage, and the traces of Baum's fantasy can be discerned in everything from the Star Wars movies to the Harry Potter books. As Schwartz's book informs us, Baum's strange and essential gift was to see the outlines of myth within the machinery of the modern world.
The truth is, Baum's Oz was always a weird and scary place, but what Murch's film gets particularly right is the author's very American ambivalence toward technology. Production designer Norman Reynolds nails it brilliantly with some steampunk-inspired creations: on the one hand such late-Victorian horrors as the gruesome electroshock machine with which Dorothy is threatened in the hospital, and on the other the lovable mechanical man Tik-Tok. The film underscores what Evan I. Schwartz suggests in his new book on the life and times of L. Frank Baum, that the road to the Emerald City began in the White City: the lathe-and-plaster facades of the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, behind which such technological innovations as electric light, the phonograph and motion pictures mingled with carnival humbug. And that among the prototypes for Baum's Wizard of Oz were both the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas A. Edison, and the master of conning the suckers, P.T. Barnum.
Baum was 44 when he published the story that made him rich and famous. He had been a chicken farmer, an actor and playwright, a marketer of petroleum products, a shopkeeper, a newspaperman and a traveling salesman. He restlessly moved his family from Syracuse, New York, to the Dakota Territory, to Chicago and – after the success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – to the place where restless Americans usually wind up: California. And in all of these places he encountered things that would work their way out of his memories and into his fiction. As Schwartz says, “Things he had seen in his life and had filed away for some later use were now rushing back and coming out on scraps of paper,” from the yellow brick road that led to the military school he attended (and hated) as a boy, to the fragile porcelain dishes and figurines he lugged about in his suitcase as a salesman, the inspiration for the first Oz book's Dainty China Country.
Schwartz does a fine job of unearthing the origins of Oz, and of portraying Baum as very much a man of his times – the era of the vanishing frontier and the uneasy transition from Victorianism into modernity. Among the major influences Schwartz singles out is Baum's mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage, an ardent proponent of women's rights. Although Baum fathered four sons and no daughters, he gave his first Oz book a heroine, and the hero of his second Oz book, the boy Tip, turns out to be the princess Ozma, the victim of a sex-change spell. Matilda Gage was also a devotee of Theosophy, the belief system that Helena Petrovna Blavatsky synthesized out of elements of neo-Platonism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Baum was intrigued by Theosophy and by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, who made a sensational appearance at the Columbian Exposition.
Schwartz observes that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz “is less a coming-of-age story ... and more a transformation-of-consciousness story. Like the Buddha, Dorothy attains enlightenment.” Still, he maybe lays it on a bit thick by describing Dorothy's travels as “a journey guided by Eastern philosophy” or suggesting that Oz exists on Theosophy's “Astral Plane”: “To embark on her journey, the girl would have her own samadhi moment, projecting herself through the eye of the cyclone into the mystical realm.” Schwartz is better at dealing with the physical world than the spiritual one, as was Baum: “Frank understood from the start that the entire premise was absurd, which is why he presented the goal of his main character with humor, the real lessons of the journey to be learned from encounters with comedic characters.”
Finding Oz is underpinned by solid research, although there are times when Schwartz's sleuthing into the things Baum “had filed away for some later use” leads him into some strained conclusions. For example, he posits some kind of imaginative link between the field of lethal red poppies Dorothy encounters on the way to the Emerald City and the killing fields of Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee. And perhaps his assessment of Baum's achievement is a shade on the hyperbolic side: “Certainly no one on any list of American luminaries has ignited the imagination of the world quite like L. Frank Baum.”
If we put Baum in the company of such “luminaries” as Washington and Lincoln, Edison and the Wright Brothers and Henry Ford, Mark Twain and Walt Disney, he may not seem like as much a standout as Schwartz thinks. But the fact remains that, 109 years later, Oz continues to inspire sequels and prequels on page and stage, and the traces of Baum's fantasy can be discerned in everything from the Star Wars movies to the Harry Potter books. As Schwartz's book informs us, Baum's strange and essential gift was to see the outlines of myth within the machinery of the modern world.
June 3, 2012
Quick, what do Hinduism, Susan B. Anthony, John D. Rockefeller, and the Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair) have in common? All were influences on L. Frank Baum's story of Dorothy and her little dog, too.
Over the years many people have tried to unearth a deeper meaning behind "The Wizard of Oz," including, notably, a Populist allegory. Evan Schwartz attempts in this book to discover the real sources of the images and themes Baum used. There will always be some conjecture involved in interpreting the work of an author who died years ago, but Schwartz seems to have done his homework as best he could, reading through family papers and interviewing family members.
Some readers may not like the inferences that Schwartz presents, but I found this book made for fascinating reading. Baum led an interesting life (which in itself makes a good story), and I really enjoyed picking up all the tidbits along his life's path which eventually made it into "The Wizard of Oz."
If the idea of Dorothy's trip to Oz being a projection onto the astral plane turns you off, you won't enjoy this book. But if you're open to a new and interesting way of understanding the story, I think you'll really enjoy it.
Over the years many people have tried to unearth a deeper meaning behind "The Wizard of Oz," including, notably, a Populist allegory. Evan Schwartz attempts in this book to discover the real sources of the images and themes Baum used. There will always be some conjecture involved in interpreting the work of an author who died years ago, but Schwartz seems to have done his homework as best he could, reading through family papers and interviewing family members.
Some readers may not like the inferences that Schwartz presents, but I found this book made for fascinating reading. Baum led an interesting life (which in itself makes a good story), and I really enjoyed picking up all the tidbits along his life's path which eventually made it into "The Wizard of Oz."
If the idea of Dorothy's trip to Oz being a projection onto the astral plane turns you off, you won't enjoy this book. But if you're open to a new and interesting way of understanding the story, I think you'll really enjoy it.
August 9, 2017
Pretty cool book. Schwartz throws in every influence that Frank Baum got buzzed by on the way to Oz: Sitting Bull, Madame Blavatsky, the Peerskill Military Academy, and his amazing mother-in-law, Mildred Gage. What a woman! I have to find out everything about her. She was the wizard behind the wizard.
Scwartz seasons the story with big splashes of Joseph Campbell, which turns out to be just the right prism we need to see what was going on beneath Frank's hubba-hubba, turn of the 20th century go-getter persona.
All in all, a very successful sort of biography.
Scwartz seasons the story with big splashes of Joseph Campbell, which turns out to be just the right prism we need to see what was going on beneath Frank's hubba-hubba, turn of the 20th century go-getter persona.
All in all, a very successful sort of biography.
April 24, 2011
This books wasn't exactly what I was expecting - but that's not a bad thing, I actually found it to be more interesting than a straight up biography of a storyteller. Rather than just telling the story of Frank Baum, it was more of a history book of the late 1800's - going into women's suffrage, Sitting Bull and the Wild West, the Chicago World Fair, the financial depression; with Frank Baum's life intertwined into it. In this way, it reminded me of The Devil in the White City. The writing of the Wizard of Oz is a constant theme, with details of Baum's life highlighted to show where they may have appeared in the story and how he came up with the details (such as why he chose Kansas as Dorothy's home state - which was amusing), who the wizard was modeled after, and what the characters represented, as well as Oz representing the Chicago World Fair (who knew? not me!). The actual writing of the Wizard of Oz didn't take place until the last chapter of the book. I recommend it for people who enjoy reading American history - and if you liked Devil in the White City - I think you'd like this one as well. It did drag in parts, I would give it 3.5 stars if I could - but it veered more toward the 4 stars then the 3 stars, in my opinion.
February 6, 2020
I read this as a follow up to the novelized version of the life of Maud Baum, wife of author and Wizard of Oz creator, L. Frank Baum. The novelist cited this book first among her historical sources, though it had been on my to-read list for years after a GR friend’s review. Generally, I prefer reading fact before fiction, but it worked out better in reverse this time. The novel included all sorts of charming origin stories about the real Dorothy and the significance of the rainbow. This book dispelled those as mere inventions, which was disappointing, but it would have completely ruined the fiction for me had I known it in advance.
The novel was almost entirely on track about Maud and her mother Matilda, both prominent early feminists. But while Maud and Matilda feature in strongly in this book, it is ultimately Frank’s story. He maintained his childlike imagination through adulthood, but he still had the adult responsibility of earning a living to support his wife and kids. Any writer who’s had this struggle will certainly relate. I mean, what practical person would ever believe that the most fanciful side of himself could actually make his family rich? That is why Frank is so inspiring. After years of trying to force himself to do the boring, responsible thing, his creativity won in the end. May G-d help it to be so for all of us.
The novel was almost entirely on track about Maud and her mother Matilda, both prominent early feminists. But while Maud and Matilda feature in strongly in this book, it is ultimately Frank’s story. He maintained his childlike imagination through adulthood, but he still had the adult responsibility of earning a living to support his wife and kids. Any writer who’s had this struggle will certainly relate. I mean, what practical person would ever believe that the most fanciful side of himself could actually make his family rich? That is why Frank is so inspiring. After years of trying to force himself to do the boring, responsible thing, his creativity won in the end. May G-d help it to be so for all of us.
January 12, 2014
I really wanted to love this, since it seemed to combine two of my favorite things: the history of the Gilded Age, and the story of the Oz books.
Like many imaginative youths, I had my psyche permanently altered by L. Frank Baum's world in combination with John R. Neill's Art Nouveau illustrations of Oz and its terrifying inhabitants; which I was fortunate to have in early hardcover edition--a hand-me-down from my grandmother.
But within the first 30 pages, Schwartz employed the phrase "thought leader" in reference to some personages of the nineteenth century and my experience of his book never managed to recover from the intrusion of that god-awful bit of TED talkery. What competent editor could have let that one through? Publishing is dead, they say.
After that, I wasn't able to give Schwarz the benefit of the doubt any more, and although much of his research is interesting and thought-provoking, I became more and more annoyed with his use of the "conditional pluperfect" tense to shoehorn suppositions and undocumented speculations about what Baum and friends "might have been" doing 100 years ago into the standard pop-history narrative form that all these books seem to follow. "Frank and Matilda might have sung popular songs of the day as they took tea in Mrs. Gage's front parlor..." etc. A little of this goes a long, long way, and seeing that construction popping up on every page, sometimes more than once, quickly became unbearable.
Even the gleaning of interesting knowledge, such as the fact that Baum's mother-in-law, who probably provided the model for several of the Ozian Witches, was both a feminist of historical rank and a Theosophist, was not enough to keep me reading this book after Schwartz begins blathering on about the teachings of Joseph Cambell. On page 76 he uses the word "bliss" in the "follow your..." sense, and I laid his book down never to resume. I have too many overdue Garry Wills books out from the library to spend any more time on this stuff.
Like many imaginative youths, I had my psyche permanently altered by L. Frank Baum's world in combination with John R. Neill's Art Nouveau illustrations of Oz and its terrifying inhabitants; which I was fortunate to have in early hardcover edition--a hand-me-down from my grandmother.
But within the first 30 pages, Schwartz employed the phrase "thought leader" in reference to some personages of the nineteenth century and my experience of his book never managed to recover from the intrusion of that god-awful bit of TED talkery. What competent editor could have let that one through? Publishing is dead, they say.
After that, I wasn't able to give Schwarz the benefit of the doubt any more, and although much of his research is interesting and thought-provoking, I became more and more annoyed with his use of the "conditional pluperfect" tense to shoehorn suppositions and undocumented speculations about what Baum and friends "might have been" doing 100 years ago into the standard pop-history narrative form that all these books seem to follow. "Frank and Matilda might have sung popular songs of the day as they took tea in Mrs. Gage's front parlor..." etc. A little of this goes a long, long way, and seeing that construction popping up on every page, sometimes more than once, quickly became unbearable.
Even the gleaning of interesting knowledge, such as the fact that Baum's mother-in-law, who probably provided the model for several of the Ozian Witches, was both a feminist of historical rank and a Theosophist, was not enough to keep me reading this book after Schwartz begins blathering on about the teachings of Joseph Cambell. On page 76 he uses the word "bliss" in the "follow your..." sense, and I laid his book down never to resume. I have too many overdue Garry Wills books out from the library to spend any more time on this stuff.
February 21, 2010
"Finding Oz" is a delight for anyone, who like me, is a bit of a nut about the movie Wizard of Oz. I actually met the author when he was promoting the book in chicago and speaking before a screening of the film. I was happy to pick up this book because I enjoy a lot of things with references to Oz...but I really didn't expect to enjoy reading this book as much as I did.
The author takes us to family history of both Frank L. Baum's family and his wifes family. This is of interest because several layers of where Baum grew up seem to have influenced his vision for the novel. A great section of the book talks about his wife's mother who was an original suffragette and peers/friends with Susan B. Anthony. One of Baum's mother-in-laws projects was public speaking on feminism and getting the vote for women. Her speeches often covered the history of witch-burning...which of course relates to the witches in Oz. I would recommend this book for anyone who loved Aljean Harmetz book "The Making of Wizard of Oz" and who likes behind the scenes research and biography of what the author, Evan Swartz calls "the Great American Story".
The author takes us to family history of both Frank L. Baum's family and his wifes family. This is of interest because several layers of where Baum grew up seem to have influenced his vision for the novel. A great section of the book talks about his wife's mother who was an original suffragette and peers/friends with Susan B. Anthony. One of Baum's mother-in-laws projects was public speaking on feminism and getting the vote for women. Her speeches often covered the history of witch-burning...which of course relates to the witches in Oz. I would recommend this book for anyone who loved Aljean Harmetz book "The Making of Wizard of Oz" and who likes behind the scenes research and biography of what the author, Evan Swartz calls "the Great American Story".
May 29, 2011
See my book review on my blog: http://quirkyreader.livejournal.com/2...
July 23, 2021
In the upstate central New York area, Oz and Baum are well known from the annual OZ-travaganza in Chittenango to the Yellow Brick Road casino along with historic plaques posted from Chittenango to Fayetteville to Syracuse. Surprisingly, I actually lived for a number of years less than a block from where Frank Baum grew up at the Roselawn estate - last time I drove by, it was an open lot where a building housing a roller-skating rink was demolished.
Anyway, the author has followed Lyman Frank Baum (he disliked his first name, hence the "L" only part) from his childhood and early schooling, his meeting, courtship and marriage to Maud Gage - the daughter of women's activist, Matilda Joslyn Gage - their growing family, his numerous jobs where his enthusiasm outreached his customer base. And through it all, the wonderful short poems or ditties used in advertising along with the stories that he told not only his children but any child that may enter his stores.
Eventually, he set pencil to paper and - as he would say - the story wrote itself. The only times he seemed to experience difficulties when he attempted to make the characters perform a certain way. Once he wrote where they led, it flowed. His relationship with artist, William Denslow, that provided colorful illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - which went through many name changes before finally being published.
I will admit that there are several parts where I wonder how the book about Baum was being moved along. The continual quotes from Joseph Campbell. References from Jungean psychology. The explanation of various parts of the story and their supposed connections as a parable of Theosophy and/or eastern philosophy - seriously, how does the fact that the Quadlings wearing red connect them to the Native Americans much less the red poppies which red for the Natives and the sleep for Dorothy becoming one with the universe. . ??
Overall, a good biography of the writer although the philosophic speculation could have been eliminated. Of course, since it was a specific chapter, the reader could easily skip it.
2021-148
Anyway, the author has followed Lyman Frank Baum (he disliked his first name, hence the "L" only part) from his childhood and early schooling, his meeting, courtship and marriage to Maud Gage - the daughter of women's activist, Matilda Joslyn Gage - their growing family, his numerous jobs where his enthusiasm outreached his customer base. And through it all, the wonderful short poems or ditties used in advertising along with the stories that he told not only his children but any child that may enter his stores.
Eventually, he set pencil to paper and - as he would say - the story wrote itself. The only times he seemed to experience difficulties when he attempted to make the characters perform a certain way. Once he wrote where they led, it flowed. His relationship with artist, William Denslow, that provided colorful illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - which went through many name changes before finally being published.
I will admit that there are several parts where I wonder how the book about Baum was being moved along. The continual quotes from Joseph Campbell. References from Jungean psychology. The explanation of various parts of the story and their supposed connections as a parable of Theosophy and/or eastern philosophy - seriously, how does the fact that the Quadlings wearing red connect them to the Native Americans much less the red poppies which red for the Natives and the sleep for Dorothy becoming one with the universe. . ??
Overall, a good biography of the writer although the philosophic speculation could have been eliminated. Of course, since it was a specific chapter, the reader could easily skip it.
2021-148
October 24, 2025
Well researched and highly engaging backstory/biography of L. Frank Baum the creator of Oz. It pulls so many strings of his life and times into the formulation of his masterwork “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, America’s original fantasy children’s novel. Recommended.
January 5, 2018
Update: Upon giving this book to the Librarian to review for consideration for the Biography section, the book has been reassigned to Biography, I have now added it to my Library Biography shelf. Library Biography #22
Random pick for me, surprisingly not included in the Biography section at my library. I wasn't expecting this book to thrill me. But it did.
This narrative reads similar to a college thesis or essay - and I loved that. To me, this made the book easier to understand and comprehensive. Schwartz begins with a biography of Baum & his wife's younger years and then transforms into Baum's life of trials and tribulations. He relates all of Baum's life ordeals to specific parts of "The Wizard of Oz." Part of me wonders if the author inferred this on his own while constructing the biography of Baum, or if these relationships have been confirmed.
The author also gives very detailed accounts of Baum's mother-in-law, which, to me was an added treat. She was obviously very influential on Baum and became parts of his story as well. I also feel like this is the most information one is going to get on Matilda Gage, as I could not locate a formal biography on her. It is sad that such a strong and influential woman has almost been lost to history.
This book should appeal to anyone who is a Wizard of Oz freak, a biography lover, or literary nerd.
Random pick for me, surprisingly not included in the Biography section at my library. I wasn't expecting this book to thrill me. But it did.
This narrative reads similar to a college thesis or essay - and I loved that. To me, this made the book easier to understand and comprehensive. Schwartz begins with a biography of Baum & his wife's younger years and then transforms into Baum's life of trials and tribulations. He relates all of Baum's life ordeals to specific parts of "The Wizard of Oz." Part of me wonders if the author inferred this on his own while constructing the biography of Baum, or if these relationships have been confirmed.
The author also gives very detailed accounts of Baum's mother-in-law, which, to me was an added treat. She was obviously very influential on Baum and became parts of his story as well. I also feel like this is the most information one is going to get on Matilda Gage, as I could not locate a formal biography on her. It is sad that such a strong and influential woman has almost been lost to history.
This book should appeal to anyone who is a Wizard of Oz freak, a biography lover, or literary nerd.
October 5, 2009
I picked up this book for two real reasons. One being that the author was speaking at my local Booksmith, and two--we both went to the same college. Go Union! Being a huge fan of biography, I really wanted to love this. I've always wondered the true meaning behind the Wizard of Oz--as it always seems that fiction of yore compared to modern day fiction has several allusions and allegories built in. To me, the book read like a college thesis. The parallels between L. Frank Baum's life and the actual Wizard of Oz seemed so far fetched to me, to the point it just got ridiculous. I also felt that the author projected way too much into what he believed the people in Baum's life thought and felt. There were several interesting sections on the history of Chicago, early women's rights movements and the establishment of the American frontier which were pretty interesting and well researched. Overall a unique and thoughtuful background into one of the most beloved children's books of all times.
November 8, 2014
Did not finish. I was expecting a more scholarly look at how Baum found and used some of his source material for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but I got a biography of L. Frank Baum instead that attempted to draw parallels between his life and his books as side-notes. Most of these were a little too far-fetched, in my opinion (look! he has a powerful mother-in-law! Maybe he used her to model the Witches of Oz!) although a few were interesting, like the fact that his military school was housed in a town with a yellow brick road. Still, it wasn't enough to keep me interested, and I have a long list of other books I actually want to read, so back to the library this goes.
October 11, 2009
A fascinating look at the author of the "Wizard of Oz" series, including his failed attempts as a chicken farmer, actor, and marketer of petroleum products. Instead he put all of his failures into his 15-book series and created a classic. His mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage, was a fascinating feminist, working with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The author also links Baum’s series to Theosophy, a mixture of neo-Platonism, Buddhism and Hinduism. I would have given this one five stars, but it lacks photographs or drawings that would have added to the text.
March 24, 2010
Schwartz did a great job of making this a readable book, although he tries to smooth over many of Baum's shortcomings. People are people, we all have faults...just because someone is an American Icon does not mean they are immune to poor choices and judgment. However, Schwartz presented a really interesting view into the life and experiences of L. Frank Baum. I definitely enjoyed reading this one and recommend it for lovers of Oz who want to learn more about how that wonderful world may have been created.
October 22, 2018
If you are a fan of The Wizard of Oz (or even if you are not) this is a fascinating book about the author of the Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum. The author proposes that The Wizard of Oz is heavily influenced by Frank Baum's life. I did not necessarily agree with every example that the author gave but it was obvious his life did influence his writing.
I was particularly interested in learning about Frank's mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage. She was heavily involved with Women's Suffrage and I believe should be as famous as Susan B. Anthony. Learning about the family's time in Alberdeen, South Dakota and the early colonization of the area led me to look up the town to see if it still existed. It does. I found I admire Frank L. Baum's passion for each of his pursuits. He didn't have a lot of success but I felt that he really put his heart into them, even if he wasn't always wise in doing so.
Reading the book helped me to appreciate The Wizard of Oz more. I found the details about making the movie at the very end of the book interesting as well.
I have to put a shout out for my book club too. Our discussions about the books we read add so much to my enjoyment of the book. We had a great discussion and yummy treats representing each character in the book. Highlights were Pop Rock truffles for the lion, divinity for the good witch, blueberry truffles for Dorothy . . . what a great night!
I was particularly interested in learning about Frank's mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage. She was heavily involved with Women's Suffrage and I believe should be as famous as Susan B. Anthony. Learning about the family's time in Alberdeen, South Dakota and the early colonization of the area led me to look up the town to see if it still existed. It does. I found I admire Frank L. Baum's passion for each of his pursuits. He didn't have a lot of success but I felt that he really put his heart into them, even if he wasn't always wise in doing so.
Reading the book helped me to appreciate The Wizard of Oz more. I found the details about making the movie at the very end of the book interesting as well.
I have to put a shout out for my book club too. Our discussions about the books we read add so much to my enjoyment of the book. We had a great discussion and yummy treats representing each character in the book. Highlights were Pop Rock truffles for the lion, divinity for the good witch, blueberry truffles for Dorothy . . . what a great night!
May 27, 2019
I'm confused - is this a biography of L. Frank Baum or Matilda Gage?
I'm sadly stuck on page 101, slogging through - when normally I'm a rather fast reader - because the author has decided to continually switch back and forth between the history of Mr. Baum and his mother in law, Matilda Gage.
While the author is a very good writer, he has fallen into the problem all history writers and educators do - when we're asked the time, we give the history of clocks first. The book is just crammed full - over crammed - with history that is secondary to the the main history he is trying to tell.
And while it is very very clear that his mother in law was a major influence for a lot of the characters, thoughts and plot lines in his series, we've lost Mr. Baum's story - it's been subsumed into the story of Mrs. Gage.
We're also getting a great deal of Joseph Campbell -and while his own work is seminal, it is overwhelming the story line.
I'd love to read a history of Mrs. Gage by this writer, but right now, I was trying to read a history of L. Frank Baum and how he came up with his books - and I seem to have lost Mr. Baum in the process.
I'll finish reading this book, and see if my review changes, but for now - it's a great start to the history of Matilda Gage and all she achieved, but the book wasn't supposed to be about her.
I'm sadly stuck on page 101, slogging through - when normally I'm a rather fast reader - because the author has decided to continually switch back and forth between the history of Mr. Baum and his mother in law, Matilda Gage.
While the author is a very good writer, he has fallen into the problem all history writers and educators do - when we're asked the time, we give the history of clocks first. The book is just crammed full - over crammed - with history that is secondary to the the main history he is trying to tell.
And while it is very very clear that his mother in law was a major influence for a lot of the characters, thoughts and plot lines in his series, we've lost Mr. Baum's story - it's been subsumed into the story of Mrs. Gage.
We're also getting a great deal of Joseph Campbell -and while his own work is seminal, it is overwhelming the story line.
I'd love to read a history of Mrs. Gage by this writer, but right now, I was trying to read a history of L. Frank Baum and how he came up with his books - and I seem to have lost Mr. Baum in the process.
I'll finish reading this book, and see if my review changes, but for now - it's a great start to the history of Matilda Gage and all she achieved, but the book wasn't supposed to be about her.
January 7, 2022
If you've ever rolled your eyes at the theory Oz was a Populist allegory, read Schwartz's well-researched book because we are right: it's not. Baum certainly wasn't perfect (his editorials on indigenous peoples will upset you) but he was able to grow out of his prejudices and remained a staunch Republican throughout his life. His mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage, was a radical feminist who severed her friendship with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton when they chose to align with moral enforcers, such as the temperance movement. She was also a Theosophist that argued against male-dominated religions, such as Christianity. (Her life was rather incredible.)
So, Schwartz uses Baum's biography to reveal what could be the inspiration for many characters and themes in Oz. Most seem plausible, but if you know the original story very well, there are occasional omissions that disprove particular theories. For example, Oz appears in a difference guise to each person, but Schwartz chooses to focus on the bald head (like the movie does) and claims it's based on John D. Rockefeller. (Fun fact: he also had three wigs of varying lengths so it would look freshly cut, slightly grown, and long enough to need a cut.) Definitely worth reading though because Baum faced many challenges as did his fascinating mother-in-law.
So, Schwartz uses Baum's biography to reveal what could be the inspiration for many characters and themes in Oz. Most seem plausible, but if you know the original story very well, there are occasional omissions that disprove particular theories. For example, Oz appears in a difference guise to each person, but Schwartz chooses to focus on the bald head (like the movie does) and claims it's based on John D. Rockefeller. (Fun fact: he also had three wigs of varying lengths so it would look freshly cut, slightly grown, and long enough to need a cut.) Definitely worth reading though because Baum faced many challenges as did his fascinating mother-in-law.
January 11, 2020
Finding Oz gives readers a look at the life of L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
I appreciated the way Schwartz wrote about Baums's life--less like a biography and more like a story waiting to be told. He doesn't just talk about Baum himself but includes details about the world and the people around him. Although I found this way of writing to be engaging, I also found it to be somewhat exhausting. Schwartz would give an excellent account of history at the time, and it's assumed impact of Baum's life, but to the point that some of it was too much. He sometimes spent more than two or three pages without even mentioning Baum's name.
Regardless, Schwartz spins Baum's life as an engaging tale of perseverance and dedication that was almost always enjoyable to read. I also liked that he included a drawing from his daughter--the one who sparked the idea for the book--in the acknowledgments.
I appreciated the way Schwartz wrote about Baums's life--less like a biography and more like a story waiting to be told. He doesn't just talk about Baum himself but includes details about the world and the people around him. Although I found this way of writing to be engaging, I also found it to be somewhat exhausting. Schwartz would give an excellent account of history at the time, and it's assumed impact of Baum's life, but to the point that some of it was too much. He sometimes spent more than two or three pages without even mentioning Baum's name.
Regardless, Schwartz spins Baum's life as an engaging tale of perseverance and dedication that was almost always enjoyable to read. I also liked that he included a drawing from his daughter--the one who sparked the idea for the book--in the acknowledgments.
August 25, 2023
This is a meticulously researched biography of L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz. Schwartz details the events in Baum’s life in particular and American history the late 19th Century in general influenced the plot of one of America’s greatest children's novel. The witches, both good and bad, were based on his mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage, a famous women's suffrage and feminist activist. The Wizard himself is an amalgam of Thomas Alva Edison, John D. Rockefeller, P.T. Barnum, and the Swami Vivikananda. The Emerald City is taken from Chicago’s Columbia Exposition of 1893.
I was surprised to learn how much of Baum’s thinking was influenced by Theosophy, a religion popular in the late 19th Century which draws on Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Although Schwartz relies on the writings of historian and Baum’s descendants, he still necessarily supplies much conjecture.
I was surprised to learn how much of Baum’s thinking was influenced by Theosophy, a religion popular in the late 19th Century which draws on Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Although Schwartz relies on the writings of historian and Baum’s descendants, he still necessarily supplies much conjecture.
June 16, 2019
The Oz books were treasures of mine when I was young. The movie was great and the first 2 books were incredible. Only now do I get to learn more about the man who wrote them.
This book gives a good account of Baum’s life and his growth as a human being. I loved the references to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. Characters such as Maud, and Matilda stand out. After reading this book I have a clearer view of what the symbols in the books meant.
The impact of swami vivekananda, Hinduism, and theosophy on Baum was something I did not foresee and was very revealing. I also enjoyed reading about the struggle of the Native Americans and feminism.
This book is like sitting in the optometrist chair and having him change lenses. It gets clearer and clearer as he goes along and before long the view is crystal clear. When it comes to Oz, Evan Schwarz does this.
This book gives a good account of Baum’s life and his growth as a human being. I loved the references to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. Characters such as Maud, and Matilda stand out. After reading this book I have a clearer view of what the symbols in the books meant.
The impact of swami vivekananda, Hinduism, and theosophy on Baum was something I did not foresee and was very revealing. I also enjoyed reading about the struggle of the Native Americans and feminism.
This book is like sitting in the optometrist chair and having him change lenses. It gets clearer and clearer as he goes along and before long the view is crystal clear. When it comes to Oz, Evan Schwarz does this.
January 20, 2020
After reading "Finding Dorothy," by Elizabeth Letts, I wanted to learn more about Frank L. Baum and his wife Maude Gage. I was not disappointed with this book. Evan I. Schwartz delves into the life, longing, disappointments, and joys of Frank L. Baum. This book is filled with facts and events of the time when Baum lived, and which influenced his writing. I was especially interested in learning more about Baum's mother-in-law, Matilda Gage, whose work for women's rights was constant and had a purity to it that the better-known suffragettes didn't have. Schwartz shows in detail, the likely symbolism that is contained in "The Wizard of Oz." This is an informative and interesting book about how failure did not dampen the spirit and joy of the man whose imagination inspired generations.
January 17, 2021
I spent my childhood devouring the Oz series, the original 14 books and all the additional approved continuations of the Oz stories. Now that I know what lies beneath and between the lines, I have to shake my head - no wonder I turned out like I did. And thank heavens for it. Kudos to Schwartz for incorporating so much information about the influence of Blavatsky/Theosophy and the spiritual underpinnings of the Oz series, as well as Baum's amazing mother-in-law, radical feminist and suffragette Matilda Jocelyn Gage and her influence on the Oz stories, and to top it all off Schwartz's inclusion of pertinent passages from Joseph Campbell texts that discuss the human journey toward self-hood, which is the arc of L. Frank Baum's life story.
October 2, 2025
The history was quite interesting, particularly the large amount on women’s suffrage. I learned a lot about events from a time period I knew almost nothing about previously. However, there was way too much time spent on mysticism’s part in Baum’s life and its part in the Oz books. If anyone wants to, they can skip over those boring parts because the author repeats all the most salient points again in brief for the the last 2 chapters. If I ever hear about astral planes again, it will be far too soon. I’d still recommend due to women’s suffrage, the World’s Fair in Chicago, the development of the West versus Native Americans, the age of corruption and robber barons, etc. It was also fun and humorous to read the wacky ways Frank L. Baum tried to eke out a living.
September 19, 2018
This was an interesting look into L. Frank Baum's life. I learned so much about him. I had no idea that the author of one of America's most beloved stories had had so much failure in his life. He showed dedication to his responsibilities and perseverance in trying to find the right occupation for him. Thank goodness he finally found his passion. The author also spent a lot of time giving background on the woman's suffrage movement and Baum's mother-in-law, Mathilda Gage, who had a huge presence in that movement, along with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, which unfortunately has been long forgotten.
October 11, 2022
This book was extremely effective is bringing insight into L. Frank Baum as a person and highlighting the clues to inspiration for the Wizard of Oz stories. What I did not expect was how this book opened up a deeper understanding of the time period — late 1800s America. I became captivated by the discussion on Matilda Gage, Baum’s mother-in-law. A courageous feminist who supported equal rights for all people, and how that commitment alienated her from society and even the woman’s suffrage movement. The writer blends these tales, Baum’s life and milieu, so well that they effectively reinforce each other. Highly recommend.
December 26, 2017
Nonfiction account of how L. Frank Baum came to write "The Wizard of Oz." It contains good biographical details on Baum and his wife Maud, it debunked a couple of myths (he did NOT name Oz from looking at the last drawer of his filing cabinet), includes insights on the influence his strong-minded female suffragist mother-in-law had on Baum's outlook on life, and delves into his constant searching for meaning in his work and in his life. Portions dragged a bit, but overall an interesting read for me.
June 21, 2019
I was a fan of the Oz series as a child - read most of them - so I was eager to read this biography of L. Frank Baum. Although it dragged in places, and it seemed to take forever to get to the part when he starts writing the books, it was fascinating to learn about how much of his life laid the groundwork for what brought him fortune and fame. It is an amazing tale of perservence, and staying true to oneself.
October 22, 2019
It was interesting to learn more about Frank Baum's life, but as the book went on, it felt increasingly academic. It seemed the author was trying to make the events and people of real life line up exactly with Baum's fiction. News flash: writers often loosely draw from what they know, but their lives can't be remade in restrospect into the fictional stories from their imaginations. This was a good one to skim. I'll put it back in the little library.
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