Synopses & Reviews
While civil war looms in Oz, Brrr—the Cowardly Lion—surrenders the story of his life to a tetchy oracle named Yackle. Abandoned as a cub, Brrr's path from infancy in the Great Gillikan Forest is no Yellow Brick Road. Seeking to redress an early mistake, he trudges through a swamp of ghosts, becomes implicated in a massacre of trolls, falls in love with a forbidding Cat princess, and avoids a jail sentence by agreeing to serve as a lackey to the war-mongering Emperor of Oz.
A portrait of a would-be survivor and a panoramic glimpse of a world gone shrill with war fever, Gregory Maguire's A Lion Among Men is written with the sympathy and power that have made his books contemporary classics.
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A New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Denver Post, and USA Today bestseller No Source
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“Much to savor, laugh at, and think about. . . . A page-turning fantasy and a timely political allegory.” USA Today
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“This Oz goes far beyond L. Frank Baums; its as surreal as a dream, but as immaculately and impeccably detailed as history. Maguires wizardlike grasp over every aspect of this reinvented land rivals classic literary landscapes like Tolkiens Middle Earth and Faulkners Yoknapatawpha County.” Albany Times Union
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“As usual, Maguire, a seasoned fabulist, populates his version of Oz with a cast of utterly fantastical characters who must face their own inner demons while tumult and uncertainty rages around them. An absolute must-read for fans of this ever-evolving dark fairy tale.” Booklist
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“Engrossing...Maguire is a masterful storyteller with an uncanny flair for mixing political and personal while exploring what it meansand what it coststo be accepted in a society.” New York Daily News
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“Entertaining....The author mixes some relatively weighty existential themesthe search for self, faith, redemptioninto his whimsical story line. [A] darkly enchanting saga” Publishers Weekly
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“So well-crafted that readers of all ages could enjoy witnessing Brrrrs transformation from an insecure kitten in the woods to a compassionate, engaged ‘manimal.” Christian Science Monitor
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“The minute you open A Lion Among Men, youre back in Maguires exquisitely detailed environment, caught up once again in his geography, his characters, his worldview, touched anew by the loneliness that lurks in the heart of all things.” New Orleans Times-Picayune
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“The third book in Maguires Wicked Years is at once funny, charming, harrowing, bleak and incredibly beautiful.” The American Chronicle
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“Maguires work is melodic, symphonic and beautiful; it is dejected and biting and brave. . . . In fabulous details and self-mocking language, Maguire displays his gift for whimsical portrayals of the broken, the powerless, the hopeless, the bad.” Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
Return to a darker Oz with Gregory Maguire. In A Lion Among Men, the third volume in Maguires acclaimed, New York Times bestselling series The Wicked Years, a fuller, more complex Cowardly Lion is brought to life and gets to tell his remarkable tale. It is a story of oppression and fear in a world gone mad with war fever—of Munchkins, Wizards, and Wicked Witches—and especially of a gentle soul and determined survivor who is truly A Lion Among Men.
About the Author
Gregory Maguire is the author of several best-selling adult novels, including Wicked, which was turned into a Broadway musical. His books for younger readers include the picture book Crabby Cratchitt, the novel The Good Liar, and the popular Hamlet Chronicles series. While writing Leaping Beauty, Mr. Maguire sadly became allergic to all creatures great and small. Now he lives in a house without pets, though he is the father of three happy, noisy small children to whom, at this writing, he has not yet developed allergies.