Uncovering the Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is not one of those books that gets lost in the shuffle. There are more versions of the first volume than anyone can imagine. It's with a bit of a sign when a customer comes in to ask for the an Oz that the challenge begins. We never have the version the customer truly wants. It's a novel but adults want a children's version. Hmmm.

"Do you have the picture book of the Wizard of Oz?"
"Uhhhhh, no!"
"The pop-up?"
"You do realize the pop-up is a $30 book geared toward an older reader?"
It's a practice in frustration.

But recently a young woman came in and bought the first in the series? (Did you know there are roughly 15 volumes in the series? It's a bit more like 14 plus five more by a different author, but you can look in Wikipedia if you want more info. I digress.) She read the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and came back asking for the second in the series. Like I said, it's not easy to track down these titles. But I managed to find listings for all the volumes through Dover Publications (they tend to print books that are in the public domain).

Here's how this customer got to reading the Oz books. She watched a movie "Girl, Interrupted" and while checking out the film commentary they mentioned references to the Wizard of Oz. This make our young customer curious. She asked me to get the second in the series The Marvelous Wizard of Oz. I managed to track down all 15 that are attributed to L. Frank Baum but sadly not all arrived. But her request did and she was happy.

She came in yesterday looking for the third in the series and I was able to have that one on the shelf, ready for her. Oh, and she also wanted a copy of Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen! I love it when a movie inspires people to read!

There's a bit of detection work required for a bookseller. Having good databases certainly helps. But the Wizard of Oz can vex the most patient of detectives. Go ahead, see for yourself. Search for the entire series but don't go to Wikipedia. Try the "old fashioned" way. See how YOU can solve this challenge.

[Editor's note: I try to include an image and book info on every book featured. Because of the enormous challenges in finding these books I'm taking a pass on that responsibility today.]