In time for a presidential election, maybe the Wizard of Oz fits neatly into the current reading list for a refreshing insight of American life and politics. And looking at the two candidates placed before the American public, one seems to be distinctly a humbug, roaring about when in reality he is filled with cowardice, having skipped any direct involvement with past wars only to volunteer the lives of gullible and vulnerable Americans overseas to terrorism.
Nostalgic, Americans can look back on Baum as a model of "simple living" and "true American values" of pragmatism overcoming the obstacles of sophistry and technology and getting down to the basics with fireside talks with the Trumans, Roosevelts and Carters. Confronted by the Wicked Witch, Dorothy tosses ordinary water on her, causing her destruction. Corruption dissolves before the truth and the remnants of it should be swept out the door before the next incoming official. Too often, we are deluded by the appearance of things and confounded by the roar of words, unwilling to trust ourselves to overcome the difficulties before us thereby allowing ourselves to be enslaved to regimes we recognize as destructive. Each adversary, Baum reminds us, has its weakness-the real problem is our own weak knees in confronting adversity.
Perhaps, in having November as the Election month with Thanksgiving just following, Americans preserve the national humor by placing taking a turkey from the White House and placing a pumpkinhead within.
Fab Foods Halloween-The Horror of Politics http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/ha...
Recipes for Election Day:
Grilling the Turkey http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/grilled_...
Talking Turkey with the Reluctant Gourmet http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/turkey_t...
Pumpkin Heads with Fab Foods http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/ha...
Parable on Popularism by Henry M Littlefield http://www.amphigory.com/oz.htm
Brooke Allen, 'L. Frank Baum': The Man Behind the Curtain http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht... New York Times, November 17, 2002 note: premium archive--sign for account
"As the Tin Woodman remarks of his stint as emperor of the Winkies, ''Like a good many kings and emperors, I have a grand title, but very little real power, which allows me time to amuse myself in my own way.'' Baum often uses such asides as a vehicle for wry commentary: the citizens of the Emerald City, for instance, are pleased by the Scarecrow's accession to the throne, '' 'For,' they said, 'there is not another city in all the world that is ruled by a stuffed man.' And, so far as they knew, they were quite right'' -- the ''so far as they knew'' being a brilliant comment upon rulers as a species"
Kirjasto: L Frank Baum http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/lfbaum.htm short bio listing some of his 69 works
