Tuesday, April 19, 2011

booktalk tuesday

The Wizard of OZ by Frank L. Baum

IndieBound Description:
"Follow the yellow brick road!"

Since it first appeared in 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has brought joy to generations. In it, a girl's dream world comes to life as the cyclone lifts Dorothy from Kansas, depositing her in the enchanted land of the Munchkins. H ere she meets the famous Oz characters: the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, the Cowardly Lion, and the Wicked Witch of the West. Her adventures along the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City and the Wizard himself evoke the rich, universal appeal of a classic fairy tale.

My Thoughts: Well, anyone who has read my book The Year of the Dog probably knows that I have always dreamt of being Dorothy. But strangely, even with this fixation I didn't set out to make a "Chinese Wizard of Oz" when I wrote Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. It was actually inspired by a Chinese folktale called "Olive Lake" which is much older than the Wizard of Oz. Perhaps both Frank Baum and I were inspired by the same tale!