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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
What came to be the most groundbreaking and successful novel of Baum?s career, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz started as an attempt to write a fantasy novel that would make money in a rather unstable market. Recounting the fictional story of a Kansas girl named Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto?s adventure into the elaborately whimsical Land of Oz, the novel was such a success that Baum immediately started the sequel?s manuscript the day after it started being sold on store shelves. Many critics tie the tale into a Marxist political allegory and others suggest the plot advocates the gold standard in its subtext. While Baum never officially commented on the political nature of the novel or any of the Oz books to follow, his son Harry revealed that the story?s main characters were from Baum?s personal life. As a child, Baum frequently had nightmares about a scarecrow chasing him across an open field. Just before the creature could catch him, it would fall to pieces. This may have inspired the famous Scarecrow of Oz; Baum would frequently craft metal figurines from spare parts around his home to make human-like window displays similar in style and shape to the Tin Woodman. It is thought that The Wizard of Oz was modeled after John D. Rockefeller, who had an ongoing business conflict with Baum?s father over Standard Oil stock shares. Despite the ambiguity of the novel?s latent messages, its longevity and cultural impact are anything but uncertain. With Broadway productions and a now-classic film, the world has fallen in love with the Land of Oz, Dorothy and her little dog, too.
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