Ruth P. Thompson OZ books?
Holly Butman
& are they any good relative to the Baum originals? Are they still
available from Del Ray? I've just been rereading all the Baum books...
what great stuff (IMHO).
Carrie Campbell
: Hey all! Have any of you ever read the Ruth Plumly Thompson OZ books,
: available from Del Ray? I've just been rereading all the Baum books...
: what great stuff (IMHO).
Most Oz (Baum) fans view the Ruth Plumly Thompson OZ books as trash or
feel disappointed after reading them. But this is something you have to
try for yourself! A good university bookstore or larger chain (not
Waldenbooks and the like, but Barnes and Noble or Bookstar or
Brentanos)should probably have a paperback copy or two laying around.
And don't forget to try your local library, which might be more
likely to have an older, hardbound copy with nice artwork.
Carrie
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
: Hey all! Have any of you ever read the Ruth Plumly Thompson OZ books,
: available from Del Ray? I've just been rereading all the Baum books...
: what great stuff (IMHO).
I'm pretty sure Books of Wonder still offers the Thompson books. I was
able to get through #29 from their NYC store, and I know they have a mail
order business also (the numbering started with #15, of course, the Baum
books being the first 14). I'm still waiting for the last 6 or 7
Thompson books to come out in paperback!
- Elayne
Amanda T Marlowe
Well, I don't think they are as good as Baum's. I collected quite a few of them
from used bookstores, though I can't ever find them any more, and if I did,
I probably couldn't afford them. Although I think they lacked the magic of
Baum's stories, I enjoyed reading them anyway, and was very
happy when they started printing the paperbacks about 10 years ago so I could
start filling in some gaps in my collection. (Cheaper than first editions,
if you are mostly interested in the story and not the collecting :) ) I didn't
see them around for very long, however. Does anyone know how far they got, and
why they stopped selling them? I was hoping they'd go past the Thompson
ones on to some of the other authors....
Amanda
--
** Amanda Marlowe | WARNING:Scientists have determined that research
mar...@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu| can be hazardous to your health, and has been
** | known to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
One man's prejudice is another's `What the <...>?!?!?'
original Baum books. I first read two of them in the mid-seventies, when I
found a couple books probably older than me in a small library out in the
middle of nowhere. They just don't have the atmosphere of the original OZ
books.
John
Eric Gjovaag
>Carrie
Please don't presume to speak for all Oz fans. I am one, and I love the
Thompson books almost as much as the Baum books. No, they're not as
varied, consistent, or "good" (whatever that means) as Baum's, but they
ARE a lot of fun, and Thompson was quite successful in creating her own
version of Oz without loosing that which made Baum so special. Eloise
Jarvis McGraw, a respected children's author who's written two Oz books
of her own, recently said Thompson's "Grampa in Oz" was her favorite of
the entire series, and there are LOTS of Oz fans who love "Kabumpo in
Oz," "The Purple Prince in Oz," "Ojo in Oz," "The Wishing Horse of Oz,"
"The Lost King of Oz," and some of her other titles ahead of some of Baum's.
As to the availability of Thompson books, it's a LITTLE better now than
it was ten years ago. Books of Wonder doesn't have the Del Rey editions
listed in their latest catalog (although I suspect they have a few copies
of some of the first nine, call 'em at 1-800-835-4315), but the
International Wizard of Oz Club not only has a few copies of them for
sale, they've also reprinted "Speedy in Oz" and "The Wishing Horse of Oz"
with the original (and rare!) color plates, the last four Thompson books,
AND two original Oz books by Thompson, written before her death in 1976.
For more information on getting these (and other Oz books, both reprints
and original books), send a SASE to:
Fred M. Meyer
220 North 11th Street
Escanaba, MI 49829
Tell him what you're looking for, and I'm sure he'll reply with information.
--
--Eric Gjovaag, Seattle, WA USA
"Help! Someone stole my sig!!!"
AaronShep
man's prejudice is another's `What the <...>?!?!?') writes:
In article <33g428$k...@news.duke.edu>, butma001@.mc.duke.edu (Holly
Butman) writes...
>Hey all! Have any of you ever read the Ruth Plumly Thompson OZ books,
>& are they any good relative to the Baum originals? Are they still
>available from Del Ray? I've just been rereading all the Baum books...
>what great stuff (IMHO).
>
I guess I'm in a minority. As kid I LOVED the books of Ruth Plumly
Thompson--read as many as I could get (and she actually wrote most of the
Oz series), but never could get into the Baum ones. Baum created wonderful
characters, but Thompson created entire mini-civilizations. I think she is
grossly underrated.
Aaron Shepard
Los Gatos, CA
uh...Clem
: - Elayne
Books of Wonder (Peter Glassman and friends) has done a breathtaking job of
reissuing the original Baum Oz books. They are faithful reproductions of
first editions, with John R. Neill's illustrations fairly leaping from every
page. They have been released fairly annually, and are following up the most
recent "The Emerald City of Oz" with "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" and "Tik-Tok
of Oz." His stores also make available many rare items of Oziana, including
as many Ruth Plumly Thompson original editions as I've ever seen on one shelf.
Thompson was 20 years old when she picked up the series for the publishers,
and while many children remember a Thompson title as a favorite, I much prefer
Baum. Neill continued to illustrate all of them, including three of his own
in the 40's, and that is reason enough for me to seek them out.
-Uh...Clem
--
Karen Friesen
Philip Jose Farmer. It's not a kids book, but looks at the Oz series
as a fictionalised account of a real place. I guess the closest
genre definistion would be scifi. I hope this isn't *too* far off
topic.
==========================================================================
Karen Friesen "But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice
Victoria BC remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the cat.
kfri...@amtsgi.bc.ca "We're all mad here." --Lewis Carroll
Eric Gjovaag
>: I'm still waiting for the last 6 or 7
>: Thompson books to come out in paperback!
>: - Elayne
They ARE out in paperback -- AND hardback. But Books of Wonder doesn't
carry them. They were reprinted by the International Wizard of Oz Club,
which also published Thompson's last two Oz books ("Yankee in Oz" in
1972, and "The Enchanted Island of Oz" in 1976), as well as a collection
of her Oz poems and an anthology of some of her non-Oz short stories and
poems.
>Thompson was 20 years old when she picked up the series for the publishers,
>and while many children remember a Thompson title as a favorite, I much prefer
>Baum. Neill continued to illustrate all of them, including three of his own
>in the 40's, and that is reason enough for me to seek them out.
Not exactly. Throughout much of her life Thompson claimed she was born
in 1900, but she was actually born in 1891, which made her thirty when
"The Royal Book of Oz" came out. Had she been only twenty when she
started the Oz books, she'd have been in her mid-teens when she started
editing the Children's Page of "The Philadelphia North-American" (I think
-- I KNOW it was one of the big Philly papers of the time), which I very
much doubt was the case.
Eric Gjovaag
>If you enjoyed the Oz books, you may enjoy _A_Barnstormer_in_Oz_ by
>Philip Jose Farmer. It's not a kids book, but looks at the Oz series
>as a fictionalised account of a real place. I guess the closest
>genre definistion would be scifi. I hope this isn't *too* far off
>topic.
As much as I enjoy PJF's work, I can't say I like "A Barnstormer in Oz"
at all (although I won't go so far as to say I *HATE* it...). It just
isn't true Oz for me, or even anywhere near it. It's too bleak, too much
like the real world. And I read, write, and enjoy Oz books BECAUSE it's
so different from the real world.
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
: If you enjoyed the Oz books, you may enjoy _A_Barnstormer_in_Oz_ by
: Philip Jose Farmer. It's not a kids book, but looks at the Oz series
: as a fictionalised account of a real place. I guess the closest
: genre definistion would be scifi. I hope this isn't *too* far off
: topic.
You think THAT'S off topic, Karen? Wait till you see THIS... :)
BY ALL MEANS, AVOID MOST OF THE OZ-NAMED COMIC BOOKS OUT NOW. ESPECIALLY
one called "Oz Squad," which takes the characters and does what so many
comic book series are doing nowadays - it makes them grim and gritty.
There's another Oz series due to come out soon (the name and company
escape me at the moment) which also promises to be just as grim 'n' gritty.
BY ALL MEANS, GET *ALL* THE OZ GRAPHIC NOVELS BY ERIC SHANOWER. He's
done four so far, and they're MAGNIFICENT.
- Elayne
Nathanel J. Barlow
editions have been out of print for quite a while now. The
International Wizard of Oz Club still has some copies of the Del Rey's,
plus some of their own Thompson reprints (Wishing Horse, the last four
which DR never did). They also have reprints of some of the other Oz
authors, and their own books.
Nate Barlow, Manager of The Ozian Times email digest
RociNate -- w...@CMU.EDU
-- nb...@andrew.cmu.edu
__________________________________________
| "I've got a bad feeling about this." |
| --(Take your pick) |
------------------------------------------
Don't ask me, I'm just improvising.
Nathanel J. Barlow
Thompson OZ books? by Amanda T Marlowe@jhunix.
> >& are they any good relative to the Baum originals? Are they still
> >available from Del Ray? I've just been rereading all the Baum books...
> >what great stuff (IMHO).
> >
>
> Well, I don't think they are as good as Baum's. I collected quite a
few of the
> m
> from used bookstores, though I can't ever find them any more, and if I did,
> I probably couldn't afford them. Although I think they lacked the magic of
> Baum's stories, I enjoyed reading them anyway, and was very
> happy when they started printing the paperbacks about 10 years ago so I could
> start filling in some gaps in my collection. (Cheaper than first editions,
> if you are mostly interested in the story and not the collecting :) )
I didn't
>
> see them around for very long, however. Does anyone know how far they
got, and
>
> why they stopped selling them? I was hoping they'd go past the Thompson
> ones on to some of the other authors....
All of the Oz books have been in print at some time in the last decade,
but mose of the reprints are now gone, too. Several companies have done
the Baum books to varying degrees (only Del Rey has done them all so
far). Del Rey did the Thompsons through Wishing Horse. The
International Wizard of Oz Club did the remaining Thompsons, along with
another Wishing Horse, Baum's Scarecrow, the two Snow books, and the
Cosgrove (along with 2 orginal Thomspons, an originl by the McGraws,
another by Dick Martin, and another by Cosgrove (now Payes)). Books of
Wonder did the three Neill books, the 2 Snows, Merry Go Round, and some
of the Baums.
BTW, the only ones of the series I don't really care for are the
Neills--they totally break up everything.
If anyone has any first editions--I'm looking for them.
Nathanel J. Barlow
this newsgroup only appeared on my reader today--I've been waiting since
the CFV was successful.
Eric Gjovaag
>BY ALL MEANS, GET *ALL* THE OZ GRAPHIC NOVELS BY ERIC SHANOWER. He's
>done four so far, and they're MAGNIFICENT.
WRONG! There are now FIVE Eric Shanower graphic novels, and the fifth
one ("The Blue Witch of Oz," published a year or so ago by Dark Horse,
since First went out of business) is just as good, if not BETTER, than
the rest.
An amusing aside: I know Eric Shanower personally, as we've attended
many of the same Oz conventions. As Eric and I have the same first name
(we call each other "the other Eric"), we're about the same age, build,
hair color, etc., I guess we confused a few people, for when his first
graphic novel came out, "The Enchanted Apples of Oz," a woman asked ME to
sign it! Although I was flattered, I did point out that she wanted the
other Eric...
(BTW, Eric also has a novel out now, "The Giant Garden of Oz," from Books
of Wonder.)
Nathanel J. Barlow
Thompson OZ books? by E. Wechsler-Chaput@panix
> done four so far, and they're MAGNIFICENT.
They are magnificent--and there are FIVE of them (the last was The Blue
Witch of Oz). He also wrote and illustrated The Giant Garden of Oz (a
novel, not a comic books) and illustrated Rachel Cosgrove Payes' The
Wicked Witch of Oz, among many, many other Oz projects.
Ben Pashkoff
>ll of the Oz books have been in print at some time in the last decade,
>but mose of the reprints are now gone, too. Several companies have done
>the Baum books to varying degrees
The best reprinta that I have so far are the Dover books, but there is
alimited variety. Does anyone know of other mail-order houses to order from???
Even over the net.
Laura Dunham
>An amusing aside: I know Eric Shanower personally, as we've attended
>many of the same Oz conventions. As Eric and I have the same first name
>(we call each other "the other Eric"), we're about the same age, build,
>hair color, etc., I guess we confused a few people, for when his first
>graphic novel came out, "The Enchanted Apples of Oz," a woman asked ME to
>sign it! Although I was flattered, I did point out that she wanted the
>other Eric...
>(BTW, Eric also has a novel out now, "The Giant Garden of Oz," from Books
>of Wonder.)
You are so modest, Eric! Just to let all you people curious about Oz
know, *this* Eric, the one that's been talking to you, also has an Oz
book out! "Queen Ann in Oz" by Karyl Carlson and Eric Gjovaag is
currently available through Books of Wonder.
(Now, where will I hide when he sees this note?... hmmmm)
--
-Laura Gjovaag
Marriage? Well, so far it's been the longest date I've ever been on!
Eric Gjovaag
>You are so modest, Eric! Just to let all you people curious about Oz
>know, *this* Eric, the one that's been talking to you, also has an Oz
>book out! "Queen Ann in Oz" by Karyl Carlson and Eric Gjovaag is
>currently available through Books of Wonder.
*blush* Well, I've never been one to toot my own horn much...
>(Now, where will I hide when he sees this note?... hmmmm)
...but thanks for mentioning it, anyway.
>--
>-Laura Gjovaag
> Marriage? Well, so far it's been the longest date I've ever been on!
However, I must tell everyone here, Laura IS my wife...
uh...Clem
: ahc...@netcom.com (uh...Clem) writes:
:[deletia]
: >Thompson was 20 years old when she picked up the series for the publishers,
: >and while many children remember a Thompson title as a favorite, I much
: >prefer Baum. Neill continued to illustrate all of them, including three of
: >his own in the 40's, and that is reason enough for me to seek them out.
: Not exactly. Throughout much of her life Thompson claimed she was born
: in 1900, but she was actually born in 1891, which made her thirty when
: "The Royal Book of Oz" came out. Had she been only twenty when she
: started the Oz books, she'd have been in her mid-teens when she started
: editing the Children's Page of "The Philadelphia North-American" (I think
: -- I KNOW it was one of the big Philly papers of the time), which I very
: much doubt was the case.
I'm sure you're correct, I think I'm probably misremembering my copy of the
Oz Scrapbook, I'll have to see if they're just passing on her preferred
version of the story. There must be some anomalistic wormhole connecting
Oz and Phiadelphia, as Thompson, Neill, and at least one visitor to Oz
hail from there.
uh...Clem
--
Eric Gjovaag
The two best places to order Oz books from are Books of Wonder, 132 7th
Ave. at 18th St., New York, NY 10011 (or call them at 1-800-835-4315),
ask for their Oz catalog "The Oz Collector"; and The International Wizard
of Oz Club (mostly their own reprints and original books, but some stuff
from other publishers as well), c/o Fred M. Meyer, 220 North 11th St.,
Escanaba, MI 49829. Between the two of them, you can now get a VERY
good, nearly complete set of Oz books, many reproductions of the first
editions. To be really, REALLY complete, however, you ALSO need "The
Third Book of Oz" (reprints Baum's "Queer Visitors from the Marvelous
Land of Oz" comic page stories from 1904-05 AND "The Woggle-Bug Book")
from Buckethead Enterprises of Oz, 6313 Ponderosa Ct. NE, Albuquerque,
NM 87110. (Buckethead also has a few non-Oz reprints and several new
books.)
The early Dover reprints are very good ("Wizard," "Land," "The Magical
Monarch of Mo"), but once color became too expensive they've lost
something, and I'm disappointed that the more recent titles don't also
include essays/introductions by Martin Gardner. Still, they are the best
paperback versions on the market. (But why did they skip over "The
Scarecrow of Oz"?)
Eric Gjovaag
[stuff about Thompson's age deleted]
>There must be some anomalistic wormhole connecting
>Oz and Phiadelphia, as Thompson, Neill, and at least one visitor to Oz
>hail from there. --------------------------
Are you referring to Button-Bright or Peter Brown?
Also, although not from there originally, W. W. Denslow worked for a time
in Philadelphia.
Nathanel J. Barlow
Thompson OZ books? by Eric Gjo...@eskimo.com
> Monarch of Mo"), but once color became too expensive they've lost
> something, and I'm disappointed that the more recent titles don't also
> include essays/introductions by Martin Gardner. Still, they are the best
> paperback versions on the market. (But why did they skip over "The
> Scarecrow of Oz"?)
Eric,
When did the various Dover Oz reprints come out? (I only have some
of their Baum non-Oz reprints). Another question is "Why did IWOC do
Scarecrow and not another Baum? Just wondering if Dover not doing
Scarecrow or the Club doing Scarecrow might be in response to each other
(which came first, the chicken or the egg)?
Nate
Eric Gjovaag
>Eric,
> When did the various Dover Oz reprints come out? (I only have some
>of their Baum non-Oz reprints).
Dover has been in the Oz business for close to twenty-five years now. I
think their edition of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" came out in 1968, and
"Land" and "Mo" came out a year or two later. During the seventies they
concentrated on the non-Oz stories ("Queen Zixi of Ix," "The Life and
Adventures of Santa Claus," "John Dough and the Cherub," "American Fairy
Tales," "The Master Key"), then nothing for some time. Around 1985 I
think they decided to continue the Oz series, since I remember a two-pack
they put out of "Land" and "Ozma" trying to tie in with the then-new
"Return to Oz." They seem to have reprinted roughly one Oz book a year
since then.
>Another question is "Why did IWOC do
>Scarecrow and not another Baum? Just wondering if Dover not doing
>Scarecrow or the Club doing Scarecrow might be in response to each other
>(which came first, the chicken or the egg)?
I think the Club doing "Scarecrow" had nothing to do with Dover --
there's never been any animosity or rivalry between them before -- but
was in response to Books of Wonders reprints of the Baum books. There
is a small but influential number of Club members who think BoW is trying
to muscle in on their turf (only slightly justified, IMHO), so they may
have tried to muscle back by doing "Scarecrow" before BoW could get to
it. I'm also unclear on this, but I've heard that for some reason the
Baum estate still holds rights to "Scarecrow" (which can't be right, as
the copyright on it should have expired in 1990), so if the Club has some
sort of exclusive arrangement with the Baum estate, that would prevent
both Dover and Books of Wonder from putting out a new facsimile edition.
Politics. Gotta love it -- NOT!