Out of Oz: The Final Volume in the Wicked Years (87 page)

Watching the world wake up, dress itself in the dark, take on its daily guise, reminds me of how we fathom human character when we encounter someone at a distance, at a galop, in the shadows. We get no more than a quick glance at the man on the street, the child in the woods, the witch at the wel, the Lion among us. Our initial impression, most often, has to serve.

Stil, that first crude glimpse, a clutch of raw hypotheses that can never be soundly clinched or dismissed, is often al we get before we must choose whether to lean forward or to avert our eyes. Slim evidence indeed, but put together with mere hints and echoes of what we have once read, we risk cherishing one another. Light wil blind us in time, but what we learn in the dark can see us through.

To read, even in the half-dark, is also to cal the lost forward.

About the Author

GREGORY MAGUIRE
is the bestseling author of
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister; Lost; Mirror, Mirror;
and the Wicked Years series, including
Wicked, Son of a Witch,
and
A Lion Among Men. Wicked,
now a beloved classic, is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name. Maguire has lectured on art, literature, and culture both at home and abroad. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

www.gregorymaguire.com

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Also by Gregory Maguire

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Lost

Mirror Mirror

Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation

Matchless

The Next Queen of Heaven

OTHER BOOKS IN THE WICKED YEARS

Wicked

Son of a Witch

A Lion Among Men

Credits

Cover illustration by Douglas Smith

Copyright

“Duck Variations” © 2010, Ron MacLean

“Atlantis” © 2010, Todd Hearon

OUT OF OZ. Copyright © 2011 by Gregory Maguire.

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FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-06-054894-0

EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2011 ISBN: 9780062101235

11 12 13 14 15 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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