The Wicked Truth

Suzanne Ross' book 'The Wicked Truth' is a fascinating investigation of the musical 'Wicked', focusing on how the themes in the musical parallel everyday life. She takes us through the musical from beginning to end and in each chapter explores a different section of the musical, applying her thematic analysis to the events of that section. The biggest notion put forth in the book is that everyone has the ability to be both good or evil and when we are being 'good', we may actually be 'evil' by perpetrating an action upon another person to make our point. Ross indicates there are no absolutes in life and she eschews violence of any kind, because even if such violence is being perpetrated upon someone we deem evil, it is still violence. She points out that everyone, even those that are deemed evil, have a point of view to be told. The parallels that Ross draws from 'Wicked' are amazing. The writing and analysis is deep, thought-provoking and challenging to reader's soul. This book will make you think long and hard about how you see the world and it may even change your views on somethings. What is also very exciting about the book is that in doing her analysis, Ross dissects the plot of 'Wicked' into a level of detail that you may not have previously appreciated. She intersperses dialogue and songs from the musical to help the reader understand the points she is trying to make, and she does it rather effectively. This is a really wonderful book. If you love 'Wicked' (as most people do), then you will probably love reading this deep analysis of the play and how it links to modern society. A word of warning, however; you should have a very good understanding of the plot and characters of 'Wicked' before reading this, because if you don't, you may be a bit confused. Hats off to Suzanne Ross...and 'Wicked'!! Enjoy!

Even if you never liked Dorothy,(and, really, who did?), this book on political motives, moral compasses, and ethical beliefs grants you access to the minds and motivations of the good, the so-called good, the so-called wicked, and the truly wicked. Philosophy mixed with a magical tale of self-discovery grants us an opportunity to see the many schools of ethics in action with characters and stories we know well. You really find a fresh, and highly pragmatic, vision of what it takes to create an image of beneficence when the subject is neither benevolent or even "Wonderful". You also see how a misunderstood person with a fiercely caring heart can be painted as the bane of society when all they were trying to do was help those with less of a voice. If you say something is wonderful enough times, no matter how bad it may be, people will start to believe it. That is called propaganda, spin, or at it's most elemental, blatant lies. The author has a clear understanding of how good things happen to bad people and vice versa. Excellent writing!!

This book was a fun way to go through the entire musical Wicked from a sociological point of view. The book was fun and was a quick read. Really love Wicked the Musical, and this accompanied it well. It did remind me how mean people are in high school and how easily people are drawn to the popular ones and swayed into being less than nice to people who may be different than you. I would recommend this book to any sociologist ( like me) who also saw Wicked the Musical. I cannot imagine someone who hasnt seen the musical would enjoy or even begin to understand this book.

Rene Girard's theoretical writings are difficult but tell us great truth about the cultures we create by what is known as "scapegoating violence". For a long time I have believed that we could all become a peaceful people if we could understand what Girard has to say. Well, "The Wicked Truth" does just that as it analyzes the beautiful musical -"Wicked" with depth, spirit and humor. Suzanne Ross has captured who we are - and who we can be and tells us the tale using the musical "Wicked". Can't recommend this book highly enough!!

This book is profound in it's analysis relying on the work of Rene Girard. It also underlines how important the "Wizard of Oz" is as a work of art way beyond a fairy tale. Baum's work is still being debated and glossed, and the scholarship regarding Baum and the importance of this work in particular is not over. This is an important book because of what it reveals about the use of myths in cultures and the issue of scapegoating which is universal. It's so important to know the facts about these categories because they reveal a mechanism in worldwide society that is constantly creating the kind of world no one wants yet because of the use of myths and scapegoating that's what we have. Girard's theories have had a tremendous influence on my thinking and hopefully, now that I understand the mechanisms maybe I can live a more peaceful life and\or make a contribution to society that attempts to forward peace rather then the on going and often manufactured battle between good and evil on so many fronts, individually, socially, culturally, and worldwide. So I have a long way to go and continued analysis of Baum, Girard, and mimetics will hopefully yield even more insights I can use in my life. One major objection to Ms. Ross's work here is the maddening repetition involved in the analysis of the play. I know she's following along with the play but the same points are made ad nauseam and I lost patience at times and had trouble reading to the end. Something need s to be dons about this. I don't think what you have here is book worthy, maybe a pamphlet would suffice. Maybe not but it annoyed me no end.

Going to go see the Broadway program this summer and wanted to know more: wow, had no idea what play was "really" about. A remarkable story, seems right on as to the prejudices and bias of us dear humans with a good story line in a fictional mode. Good discussion starter.

This book dissected the play and was very helpful to my daughter for her research paper.

a really interesting analysis of an awesome play, digging into the script and looking at ways the lessons it teaches can be applied to our lives. And despite all that, not boring in the slightest. :)