ThE Yellow Road Not Taken
THE SHORT OF IT…
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a time-honored, cherished piece of children’s literature. This, however, is not that book. But if you're ready for a happily acerbic, satirical sendup in which the Cowardly Lion suffers from crippling anxiety, the Tin Woodsman is a psychopath, and the Scarecrow is gloriously, undeniably brainless, then you're in the right place. If you want a story about how four hopeless misfits (five with the pig) pool their limited resources to find triumph in the end, then you're in for a treat you won't soon forget.
Follow along on the Yellow Brick Road. It's gonna be a trip!
THE LONG OF IT…
Dorothy was a neglected, stunted child growing up in misery in the gray wastelands of Kansas. Okay, if you’re from Kansas, don’t get all hot and bothereed. It’s creative license, like in the movie. Well, Dorothy’s gray life sees her passed from relative to relative and contemplating death. Not her death, but the promised death of her pet pig Toto, who’s scheduled to get made into bacon. You can imagine Dorothy’s desire to escape her weighty fate, and Toto’s, too!
And she does, but not in any way she could have expected. A tornado scoops up the two of them and drops them in a strange land, far away. A land of color, beauty, and ages-old terror, especially if you’re proclaimed The Killer of Witches and the witch you killed was the sister of the meanest, most vile creature in all the land.
And if you think you know the rest of the story, I guarantee that you don’t. I mean, to start with, Toto’s a pig?
So, there you are, lost, disavowed by everyone who dearly wants to avoid witch killing by association, and your own likely murder is imminent. What do you do and who do you do it with?
Why, you run off along the Yellow Brick Road to ask an audience of the great Oz, the most powerful magical creature of the land. Maybe Oz can protect you from the vengeful wicked witch. Maybe he can help out the friends you meet along the way, too. There’s the scarecrow, so empty-headed his head doesn’t even have echoes. The metal man, his circuits programmed for tree-cutting, not for empathy in any way. And the cowardly lion, suffering from crippling anxiety and a long list (he wrote them down!) of phobias.
Maybe you (that’s Dorothy. You’re Dorothy) can save yourself from disaster and help your friends gain their deepest desires, and learn in the end that there’s no place like home.
Or maybe not. Because this is not that book, the book that has become a treasured piece of children’s literature. This is a satire of that book, filled to the covers with acerbic wit, social commentary, and artful criticism. It’s Oz without the sugar, without the simplistic, happy outlook on life. It’s Oz eating nails for breakfast and washing them down with a Tequila chaser.
This is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for modern, somewhat jaded, modern readers. Those readers may be kids, sure (nothing in here that would shock a kid who’s already read the original). But the readers of this book are most likely adults who have read the original and found it … a little lightweight. Mostly, it’s Oz for readers who want to have fun with legends. Come along with us down the Yellow Brick Road. Travel with us through the East, West, North, and Downtown of Oz to experience the adventures of another age. This isn’t your momma’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It’s yours. And it’s a trip.
Fantasy, Satire, Adult Themes, Fantasy Action-Violence
Paperback Following Soon!