The Shaggy Man of Oz

Being a huge Oz fan, I've been recently collecting Oz books by Ruth Plumly Thompson and Jack Snow and have been enjoying them for the first time. I got a copy of THE SHAGGY MAN OF OZ, and read with much enjoyment through another wonderful Oz title. After John R. Neill passed away, Jack Snow took up the mantle of Historian of Oz, and put out two fictional stories of his own, THE MAGICAL MIMICS IN OZ and THE SHAGGY MAN OF OZ. Frank Kramer came along and illustrated both books. He then wrote WHO'S WHO IN OZ, detailing hundreds of characters from the Oz books, the plotlines of each book, and short biographies of the Oz authors. THE SHAGGY MAN OF OZ starts out with two young, very generic children, resembling a typical child of the 1950's, Twink and Tom. The twins are transported to the Isle of Conjo and are meant to be held captive there by the selfish wizard Conjo, the very same wizard who created the famed Love Magnet. But when the Love Magnet breaks, Ozma sends the Shaggy Man to the Isle of Conjo to get it repaired. What comes next is an exciting Oz adventure as the Shaggy Man, Twink, Tom, and the wooden clown Twiffle seek to return to Oz so that Twink and Tom can return home to Buffalo. Snow's Oz installment is in the style of L. Frank Baum, both in the writing and plotting. Snow almost completely ignores any of Thompson or Neill's characters, and focuses mainly on his own few and Baum's, which works fine. The main problems with the story center around Twink, Tom, and Twiffle, who end up being generally flat characters. Even Thompson's generic boy heroes are better than these guys. The story answers some great questions that Baum left hanging in his books, and Snow does create Conjo very well. Altogether, this is just another fun Oz book to read on a rainy day, or to relive memories of the past.

This book is interesting and delightful, with the Valley of Romance, the King of Beavers, and our familiar Oz characters. Two siblings travel through a television set to the world of Ev, and onto Conjo's Isle. To escape, they must get to the Emerald city and past Glinda's barrier of invisibility. This is interesting and all Oz fans should read it. I love Oz and everyone in it, and if you are new to this world, I hope you will to!

"Shaggy Man" is one of the best books in the Oz series. As Snow himself hoped to do, he improved greatly on his previous Oz book, the highly enjoyable "The Magical Mimics in Oz." The book is clearly the creation of a true aficionado of L. Frank Baum's writing; like "Magical Mimics" it closely approximates Baum's plotting style, and the style of the prose itself, while close to Baum's, attains its own delightful distinctiveness. One noteworthy feature of this book is the highly dramatic endings of several of the chapters, beginning with the first one; these endings are cliffhangers which compel the reader to continue reading. "Shaggy Man" deserves classic status among the Oz books, and is recommended to Oz fans everywhere. (Note that "Shaggy Man" contains precisely one reference to a character from "Magical Mimics," and none whatsoever to characters or events from any of Thompson's or Neill's books (as is also true of "Magical Mimics"); thus "Shaggy Man" can be read and enjoyed by anyone who has read several of Baum's Oz books.)

"Shaggy Man" is one of the best books in the Oz series. As Snow himself hoped to do, he improved greatly on his previous Oz book, the highly enjoyable "The Magical Mimics in Oz." The book is clearly the creation of a true aficionado of L. Frank Baum's writing; like "Magical Mimics" it closely approximates Baum's plotting style, and the style of the prose itself, while close to Baum's, attains its own delightful distinctiveness. One noteworthy feature of this book is the highly dramatic endings to several of the chapters, beginning with the first one; these endings are cliffhangers which compel the reader to continue reading. "Shaggy Man" deserves classic status among the Oz series, and is recommended to Oz fans everywhere. (Note that "Shaggy Man" contains precisely one reference to a character from "Magical Mimics," and none whatsoever to characters or events from any of Thompson's or Neill's books (as is also true of "Magical Mimics"); thus "Shaggy Man" can be read and enjoyed by anyone who has read several of Baum's Oz books.)