A Man With An Agenda

And here we have the evidence that L. Frank Baum finally let the little bastards get to him. He would give them exactly what they wanted. What a shame they didn't notice he was mocking them. I can just see him counting his money through the tears.

'Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz' finds Dorothy falling through a crack in the earth while visiting cousins in California. She tumbles down clutching her pink kitten Eureka and dragging her cousin Zeb and his cart horse Jim with her. Oz scholars will point out that Zeb is the only adventurer to never have another appearance in the Oz books. Good man Zeb, good man.

For reasons, Dorothy runs into the Wizard, whose balloon has fallen into the earth and together they start exploring the strange lands underground, looking for a way back to the surface. The Wizard has some pretty nasty charges leveled against him in 'The Land of Oz', but don't expect to have them addressed. From here on out, even in books where Baum shows interest in the story and characters again, he ignores most of what he's said about them other than their appearance.

I suggest not reading this, and skipping on ahead to 'The Emerald City of Oz', because the Oz reader has a rough road ahead of them.

Oz

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