Was (novel)

Was (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Was
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Penguin Group 1993 edition
author = Geoff Ryman
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = UK
language = English
series =
genre =
publisher = Harper Collins
pub_date = 01 May 1992
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
pages = 352 pp (hardcover edition) & 368 pp(paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 978-0002239318 (hardcover edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Was" (or "Was"... in the UK edition) is a 1992 parallel novel by Geoff Ryman focussing on the (in some cases, tragic) lives of disparate individuals linked to one another by L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", and the musical film version. Ranging across time and space from the 1860s Kansas to the late 1980s California, among other locations, the novel's characters include a tapestry of characters, some real but most fictitious, whose lives indirectly affect each other.

Plot summary

The novel is separated into three parts,"Winter Kitchen", "Summer Kitchen", and "Oz Circle". The primary focus is put on Jonathan, a gay male actor with AIDS who goes on a pilgrimage of sorts to Manhattan, Kansas and the "real" (but imaginary) Dorothy on whom the book's fictional version of L. Frank Baum based the character.

Other characters include Baum, who makes an appearance as a substitute teacher in Kansas. Millie, a makeup girl on the set of the original film version film narrates an encounter with Judy Garland, its lead actress.

Themes

"Was" discusses a number of complex themes, including the importance of a stable childhood. Much of the novel is devoted to the dreary life that Dorothy Gael (surname different from Baum's character) leads with her aunt and uncle, Emma and Henry Gulch. Neither parental figure is capable of providing Dorothy with the affection or the attention she needs. As a result, Dorothy becomes silent at home and aggressive in school.

Jonathan's childhood, in contrast, involves his dependence on the imaginary characters from first airing of The Wizard of Oz on television.

A roughly fictionalized version of Judy Garland's difficult life as a child actress is also shown, speculating on the marriage of her parents.

Musical adaptation

Tina Landau directed, Barry Kleinbort wrote the book and lyrics, with music by Joseph Thalken. A musical production sponsored by the American Musical Theatre Project premiered at the Ethel M. Barber Theatre at Northwestern University in October 2005. An earlier version of the musical had appeared at the Human Race Theatre in Dayton, Ohio.

Awards and nominations

*Finalist for the World Fantasy Award
*The Publishing Triangle placed it number 79 on its list of best gay and lesbian novels


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