Books I Want To Talk About discussion

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Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Here are some links to some other comments about this book:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show_g...

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show_g...

Oh for fuck's sake.

Now that's what I call a precedent.

Please won't someone at least indict him for "Trapped in the Closet?"

I'm scared that you know that, David.

It's also the 3rd anniversary of Michael Jackson being acquitted.... hmmm...

At one point, Sam Adam Jr. referred to a defense argument made repeatedly during the trial that a mole on the singer's back proved he simply can't be the man in the video.

After displaying a freeze frame of the man's back in the video -- with no apparent mole -- Adam walked over to the defense table and placed his hand on Kelly's shoulder.

"The truth be told, there is no mole ... that means one thing," Adam told jurors, then paused and lowered his voice. "It ain't him. And if it ain't him, you can't convict."

Evidently it is okay to molest children if you are a wealthy pop singer.

see message #3

Tim Russert died today... I wonder if this is related.

Tim Russert died? He wasn't even that old.

I LOVE Trapped in the Closet. The midget part made me piss my pants, but just on myself, not on anyone else.

Yep, dropped dead of a heart attack at 58 while at work. Crazy day, huh?

Ok, Russert died of a heart attack. Every time I hear of someone dying of a heart attack at his age or so (58) I think, yeah, time to get on the treadmill and eat some salad. And maybe destress. Dude was too young.

Whoa!

Oh my God! Tim Russert died? It must have been this insane primary - and doughnuts, probably.
Rest in peace, Tim.

Who is R. Kelly...and what did he do?

Stinky - please watch THIS

Tim Russert died?? Wow. That's kinda shocking, isn't it?

Thank you Shelly!!

"drip drip drip, pee on you..."

too bad chapelle went awol.

Okay, I just read an article, but:

"Some of that doubt came from the questionable motives of the witnesses who came forward to identify the people on the tape, including the girl's aunt Stephanie "Sparkle" Edwards, whom the singer's lawyers described as bitter over a bad business deal with the singer, and former Kelly mistress Lisa Van Allen, whom defense attorneys accused of attempting to extort $300,000 from them in order not to testify. Kelly's team said there had been a conspiracy afoot to create a fake sex tape, and these women were suspect."

Are you sure the guy didn't get a bad rap (no pun intended)? Those sound like some bitter bitches...I have no idea, like I said, until I googled it, I had no idea who the guy was.

RA said: I LOVE Trapped in the Closet.

Why am I not surprised?

C'mon now, David. Don't tell me Trapped in the Closet is not one of the most psychotic musical releases EVER. It's fantastic. IT'S GOT A FUCKING MIDGET IN THE VIDEO. Without irony. Genius.

BRMB, "I want to pee in your food...yes I do..."

WTF is "Trapped in the Closet," Clay Aiken's new album?

Hee!

No, Michelle, it's Ricky Martin's.

Uh, I love the spoof of Trapped in the Closet I saw on Mad TV. Or was it SNL? It was Trapped in the Cupboard and R. Kelly was going to pop whoever ate his cereal.

Ha!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapped_...

Thank you, Sarah.

Chapter Nine:

Ending "Un-Cliffhanger" line: "Now pause the movie cause what I'm about to say to y'all is so damn twisted, not only is there a man in his cabinet, but the man is a midget! MIDGET! MIDGET! MIDGET!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7putw2...

Trapped in the Cupboard.

So, apparently, Married Man-Married Woman-Woman's Husband-Husband's Gay Lover-Man's wife, who's friends with married woman-Wife's lover, a cop who pulled over Married Man-Cop's wife-Midget-Wife's jailbird brother-Man's waitress who's brother's baby momma-Other waitress who's baby momma's lesbian lover.

This is how they are all connected.

Michelle
"you'll never feel quite the same/when you get a whiff of my Hershey stains"

where's the stuff about Tim?

Well, I thought the Trapped in the Closet epic video was hilarious, too... in a WTF kind of way... and the song cracked me up.

Oh goodie. I'd love another opportunity to discuss this book. This is one of my favorites even though it's incredibly deep and often depressing. But the story is so complex and rich. And it deals with so many moral questions about society and "human" behavior. Bring it on folks!

(But I do encourage you, if you would like, to post your thoughts over at the Rory Gilmore group. They had a wonderful discussion there and I know a lot of the members would love to hear your comments too.)

Thanks... I am going through the book now and look forward to posting my thoughts! :)

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

I loved how Maguire turned a "treasured" story on its head simply by changing the viewpoint. I think back as a child and how I couldn't play the second side of my Wizard of Oz record (yes, I'm THAT old...heh) because it had the "monkey" scene on it. The "wicked" witch was SO frightening and you knew she was just pure evil.

But after reading this book, I see her so differently and sympathetically. She's still not a "nice" person, but neither is she pure evil.

I also enjoyed the moral issues he brings up like the whole animal vs Animal controversary.

That was something I loved about Wicked also. It reminded me of what a one-sided view we have when we meet or see someone in a single situation. Each person has a whole past and all kinds of ideas and emotions and activities that we don't even know about. I hope it helps me to resist rushing to judgement and "pigeon-holing" people.

Me too Robbie. It's hard not to do, especially when if the situation appears so extreme (she's green! she's ornery! she doesn't care about "normal" things!).

Did anyone else get the who 60s protester vibe throughout the book? I could just picture her at Woodstock, but without so much of the free love.

If anyone lives/visits NYC anytime soon, I really recommend seeing the show on Broadway, it was really incredible. This book is on my list to read so I don't know if the show mimicks the story exactly, but I loved how the story got completely turned over from the story we all know. It all came together really well, and really became a story about friendship and love. The music was great too!

The musical is quite different from the book. The book is much darker and deeper. I liked the book, and I love the soundtrack--will be seeing the musical here in Pittsburgh in September. Not Broadway, I know, but it should be fun!

It's going to have an open-ended run in San Francisco too.

Allison, prepare yourself: The book is vastly different from the musical. Pretty much the only similarities are the character names and the fact that Elphaba and Galinda met at a school called Shizz.

I found the musical to be more in line with the original movie (in the story arc sense). Which is interesting as the original movie is very different from the original book! Looks like neither book got any real representation.

Robbie - Ooohhh, you're going to love it! I saw the traveling production in Chicago and it was fantastic.

I didn't realize the book would be so much different! I'm looking forward to reading it now. And it doesn't matter where you see the show, I heard they're all great!

I love talking about Wicked! The book and the musical are very very different, but in my opinion both very good. I just felt like there was more to the witch when I saw the original movie and now reading Maguire's story and seeing the musical you just hear someone else's perspective on who they thought she might be...Has anyone looked at The Grimmerie? It's the book about Maguire's book and the musical. It's a great book... I love looking at the pictures and finding out the "back" story as to how Maguire wrote the book and how others decided to make it a musical.

Yeah, I've read the Grimmerie.

Did you like it?

Yes. I particularly liked the fact that they talked to actors in the touring production and replacements on Broadway, and not just the original cast.

I like that too. I like hearing about all the actors who played the cast. It's very interesting to hear their take on the whole musical. I like reading about how everyone approached each other in the very beginning process of making the musical... how they at one point were thinking movie, but it lacked something. I am so glad they did make it a musical because the music is amazing and I love listening to it. Glad you liked it. :)