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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Wild Card/Sunday — 1/28/07

Tonight, I finished reading "Wicked," the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. I enjoyed the Oz books as a kid. So, I wanted to see how a modern would handle the old story, especially with a clever play now based on the "Wicked" book. I made a mistake. It reminded me of Bedford Falls sans Jimmy Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life" -- dark, unhappy, peopled with fallen characters. Toss in boring and crude, and you have a poor substitute for a decent idea. I read it all the way through to see what semblance it has to the play. In this case, the play definitely was better than the book. So much for the detour into fantasy. I'll be back at the history of the Reformation by Will Durant tomorrow. What are you reading? You can tell me with this Wild Card -- or you can start your own thread ...



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.