Product Description

WAS is the story of Dorothy. Orphaned as a child in the 1870s, she goes to live in Kansas with her Aunty Em and Uncle Henry. They face drought and poverty. They face each other. Alone, abused, Dorothy meets an itinerant actor called Frank and inspires a masterpiece. From the settling of the West and the heyday of the Hollwywood studios to the glittering megalopolis of modern Los Angeles, WAS is the story of all our childhoods.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #558769 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

About the Author
Geoff Ryman was born in Canada and now lives and works in London and Oxfordshire.

Customer Reviews

If it was a movie, it'd be described as a SLEEPER HIT
What if Dorothy from “The Wizard Of Oz” really existed, Uncle Henry was a predatory paedophile, and Aunty Em and the dreadful Miss Gulch were the same person? That’s basically the main plot of this superficially bizarre, but very heartfelt post-modern take on the Oz legend.

But if it sounds like one of those dreary comical rewrites where everything is subverted just for laughs, then I’ve done it an injustice. “Was” purports to be the story of the real Dorothy, who meets L Frank Baum, who goes on to write the story of the life she should have had – the Oz books themselves.

It’s also the story of the making of “The Wizard Of Oz” movie, Judy Garland’s family strife mirroring the real Dorothy’s, and dying AIDS patient Jonathan’s obsession with them both. Everything is linked across the hundred-year span of the novel, and the end is also the beginning. But the result, a swirling mass of parallel lives across the centuries, comes across like a literary cyclone itself.

That said, this isn’t a particularly literary novel. I found it very easy to read, but to really appreciate it you need to appreciate either the film or the Oz books themselves. This isn’t a happy book, and there is little let-up from the misery. There are certainly no happy endings in the conventional sense. In a way, the characters are just swept away at the end of the novel, but when you get that far, this kind of seems fitting.

Unfortunately, this book seems to go in and out of print regularly, so snap it up whilst you still can!

Was
As someone who aspires to write, this book is something I could readily die with as my greatest work.
This is a must read for anyone who loves Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Coupland.
Geoff Ryman is best know for science fiction and steps out of this genre for Was which utilises his imaginative skills in a way that will leave you wondering why he is not a household name - how I wish he would give up science fiction.
I have recommended this book to half a dozen of my friends and all of them have said how much they loved it.
Please buy it - it warrants iconic status

A web of fact and fiction that brings Oz to the modern world
Geoff Ryman has weaved a wonderful web of fact and fiction to produce a seductive take on L. Frank Baum's classic 'The Wizard of Oz'. The novel contains vivid descriptions of nineteenth century American life; snippets of Judy Garland's biography, and a colorful psychological drama involving a terminally ill young man. The story skips back and forth over eras and characters, echoing the relationships between the main characters. This is one of the best examples of this form of story telling I have come across - the web, though complex at times, is clearly developed for the reader and does not become confusing. A knowledge of Baum's characters is helpful preparation for reading this book. Finally, whilst 'Was' is steeped in fact and some solid true to modern life fiction, I felt that its more fanciful elements will thrill some readers but may be too resonant of the Oz story for others.