# Any Gregory Maguire ("Wicked," "Ugly Stepsister") Fans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902 "2003-08-08T20:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/1 "2003-08-08T20:36:59Z")
We just got in an advance copy of his new book, due out in Oct., _Mirror, Mirror_, a take on _Snow White_ (I went back and reread the original, and boy, they didn’t call those brothers “Grimm” for nuthin’!). He’s also written the enjoyable _Wicked_ (_The Wizard of Oz_, as told from the Wicked Witch’s perspective) and the self-explanatory _Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister_. ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/2 "2003-08-08T21:09:22Z")
I am reading Wicked and are enjoying it. I had wanted to start with Confessions, but I don’t know what happened there. Maybe Wicked was on sale… ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/3 "2003-08-08T21:39:19Z")
Both books are great! I’ve used _Wicked_ in a bunch of different classes and have thoroughly enjoyed it each time. _Confessions_ didn’t grab me as much; I didn’t think that it was as well written, and the basic theme it’s exploring (beauty, as opposed to good vs. evil) wasn’t as interesting for me. Plus with the Witch, Maguire had one of the all-time great characters to work with. Based on both books, I’d eagerly pick up anything else by him, especially if it’s another reworking of a fairy tale. ---
**Author:** ![boobah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/46a35a/32.png) [@boobah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boobah)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/4 "2003-08-08T22:15:50Z")
Eve, I really loved _Wicked_. I didn’t enjoy either _Confessions_ or _Lost_ as much. Does _Mirror, Mirror_ also have the witch as the protagonist? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/5 "2003-08-08T22:25:09Z")
I enjoyed _Wicked_ a lot, _Confessions_ not at all, and ended up not even trying _Lost_. But if my local library gets a copy of _Mirror, Mirror_, I’ll give it a shot and see if I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/6 "2003-08-09T06:23:48Z")
**boobah** and **Lsura** : What book are you referring to as _Lost_? I wasn’t aware that Maguire had written anything else, and I’m interested. ---
**Author:** ![Cobalt\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Cobalt\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cobalt_Blue)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/7 "2003-08-09T07:07:34Z")
Another fan, and how. Thanks, **Eve** ; now I’m waiting on releases from both Byatt _and_ Maguire. September will be one long night before Christmas. 😛 I’ve reread _Wicked_ about twelve times now, and I’m still finding new aspects to enjoy. _Confessions_ and _Lost_ are well written, too, but I think a lot of readers weren’t expecting the shift in narrative tone for each–and after the densely layered themes and beautifully extrapolated mythos of the first book, the next two can seem pretty empty in comparison. It was a hard act to follow. Looking forward to seeing what he’s done now. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/8 "2003-08-09T12:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Manatee \* > \*\ ***boobah** and **Lsura** : > > What book are you referring to as _Lost_? I wasn’t aware that Maguire had written anything else, and I’m interested. \*\* _[Lost](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060988649/qid=1060432309/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/002-4189048-8537664)_ ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/9 "2003-08-09T12:58:21Z")
We loved WICKED, but I couldn’t get through CONFESSIONS. CONFESSIONS was done as a made-for-TV movie a year or so ago, and it was pretty mediocre. I understand that WICKED is being done for the theatre as a musical? … Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/10 "2003-08-09T13:30:42Z")
Big fan here. I loved Wicked. I found it to be extremely addictive. Confessions was good too, but it didn’t grab me as much. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/11 "2003-08-09T15:03:42Z")
I haven’t begun reading _Mirror, Mirror_ yet, so all I know is what the cover copy tells me: it takes place in 15th-century Italy, and the Wicked Stepmother is Lucretia Borgia (!). The seven dwarves are apparently realistic and dark, not goofy. It could be very good or very bad, I will certainly dive into it. By the way, in the original Grimm story, Snow White’s new hubby kills Wicked S.M. by forcing on her a pair of red-hot iron shoes and making her dance till she drops down dead. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![boobah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/46a35a/32.png) [@boobah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boobah)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/12 "2003-08-09T23:43:47Z")
Lucretia Borgia! :eek: Cool! Thanks for the teaser, Eve. The _other_ Snow White story, _Snow White and Rose Red_, had a nasty dwarf for the villain. I wonder if _Mirror, Mirror_ is pulling from there for the darker dwarves. Let us know? Semi-tangentially, I just heard about the new Terry Gilliam film, [The Brothers Grimm](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0355295). Gilliam and Grimm are a natural partnership. I just hope he finishes this one. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/13 "2003-08-14T14:29:14Z")
OK, I’m about 100 pages into the book, and it’s actually not bad at all—very atmospheric, and his character development is pretty good. I was stopped dead on page two, though, by a wowser of a sentence: “My eye consisders the alphabet of light that spells its unreadable words on the surface of the river.” _Yikes!_ If I ever write a sentence like that, promise to speed a bullet through my brain? ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/14 "2003-08-14T14:54:16Z")
**Eve** , Snow White was always my favorite story as a kid precisely BECAUSE of the red-hot iron shoes! _lol_ I have read _Wicked_ and _Lost_, and at least own _Confessions_, though I haven’t gotten around to reading it. I thoroughly enjoyed _Wicked_, with only the minor problem of feeling it was rather anticlimactic. But then, I guess I didn’t consider when I started the book that I already knew the end! I didn’t really like _Lost_ much at all, which is possibly why I haven’t read the third yet. In addition to being at _least_ as anticlimactic as _Wicked_ was, I just felt rather empty after finishing it. I just didn’t find anything within it that made me even remotely happy or interested, but it was a gift from an old friend, so I felt I had to read it. But I’ll definitely get on board for _Mirror_, because the idea of Lucretia Borgia as the evil stepmother is just far too cool to miss. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/15 "2003-08-14T14:56:54Z")
I’ve never read _Lost_—is it his take on Hansel & Gretel? ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/16 "2003-08-14T15:01:11Z")
No, _Lost_ has a vague connection to Ebenezer Scrooge, but is not half as interesting as the blurb makes it out to be. ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/17 "2003-08-14T15:26:51Z")
Thanks, **Eve**! I read Wicked first and loved it. I enjoyed Confessions, and I was pretty neutral on Lost but I’m excited about Mirror, Mirror and will get a copy when it comes out. Let us know what you think of it–if it’s really good I’ll probably just order it instead of waiting for the library’s copy. ---
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/18 "2003-08-14T18:10:24Z")
“Lost” starts out to be a Scrooge story, then wanders off into a ghost story, then stumbles into a Jack the Ripper plot. None of the stories are resolved. I disliked it. “Confessions” and “Wicked,” on the other hand, I have reread at least five times each. Love them. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/19 "2003-08-14T20:26:38Z")
Read _Wicked …_ last summer - the local library has both _Confessions…_ and _Lost_ – will have to check them out (probably in that order) ---
**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902/20 "2003-08-14T21:31:41Z")
I read _Wicked_, and really enjoyed it. I had no idea the author had written more books. Looks I’ve got some more books on my list after I finish Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon. Which is a great book too, if you’d like to check it out. Why are we italicizing book titles? I thought they wanted to be underlined… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-gregory-maguire-wicked-ugly-stepsister-fans/193902.md?page=2)