Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)From its "Son of a Witch" section to Bill Cosby's Jello recipes, you'll be thoroughly entertained as this fascinating cookbook serves up delicious trivia. Metaphor now complete, the point's valid; Cox and Willingham have done an admirable job of identifying celebrity candidates from the saga of Oz, tracked them down (surely no easy task itself) and solicited recipes worth sharing.
But the recipes are just the beginning. This is really a book about Oz. A funny, clever, fascinating book that illustrates America's love affair with this marvelous story.
The Oz connections are explained in a direct style that will be a real eye opener for anyone unaware for the extent to which this classic fairy tale has penetrated our culture. The sidebars, photos, photo captions and text take you through a full 100 years of Oz history just as the turn-of-the-century fairytale marks its centennial year.
Background information is short enough to be an easy read, yet detailed enough to say something meaningful. For example, a quote from a vintage interview with the author's wife includes that she thought Baum, who didn't live to see the MGM film, would have regreted the portrayal of his book's rather comic character, the Wicked Witch of the West, as a scary witch. "Frank wouldn't have liked the witch part. He never wrote anything that might frighten children," she says.
The classic MGM film is just one of the stage/screen productions honored in this book. Talented cast and crew members behind animated Oz films, merchandise creators, recording artists, even stars from television series that included an Oz theme in an episode all get their share of attention. Whether it's Baum family recipes from the author's descendents, vintage manufacturer's recipes for the likes of Oz Peanut Spread, or Ice Box Pie paired off with a studio shot of seven Munchkins posing in a refrigerator, the writers did their research and have skillfully made all the pieces connect. You never know what to expect from the next page, but you learn pretty quickly that it will keep you reading.
The book's especially well designed -- you'll find black and white photos, cartoons, vintage ads, candid photos and studio portraits, graphics or side bars on virtually every spread. There's a handful of rare set shots from the 1939 MGM film in one section. An engaging forward by Munchkin Margaret Pellegrini, two indexes (one for recipes and one for Oz)and a family tree at the end to help keep straight the who's who of Baum family members who've contributed recipes, photos and rare clippings to the book.
And if you've ever wondered -- or doubted -- what Michael Feinstein, Mr. Rogers, Phyllis Diller, Oliver Hardy, Art Carney, Dick Van Dyke, Sid Ceasar, Nipsey Russell, Thomas Blackshear, and about 300 other celebrities have in common, the answer's here. Here's your answer. It's Oz.
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