Gregory Maguire

Author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

72+ Works 72,389 Members 1,557 Reviews 181 Favorited

About the Author

Gregory Maguire was born June 9, 1954 in Albany, New York. He received a B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany and a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Tufts University. He is a founder and co-director of Children's Literature New England, Incorporated, a non-profit show more educational charity established in 1987. He writes for both adults and children. His first book, The Lighting Time, was published in 1978. His adult works include Wicked, Confessions of and Ugly Stepsister, Lost, Mirror Mirror, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men. The Broadway play Wicked is based on his book of the same title. His children's books include the picture book Crabby Cratchitt, the novel The Good Liar, and the Hamlet Chronicles series. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Grgory Maguir, Gregory Maguire, Gergory Maguire, Gregory Maguire, Gregory McGuire, Gregroy Maguire, Gregory Macguire, Gregory Macquire, Greghory Macguire, Gregory Smith Maguire, Maguire Gregory; Gregory Maguire, Gregory. Illustrations by Douglas Smith. Maguire

Series

The Wicked Years

Hamlet Chronicles

Another Day

Works by Gregory Maguire

Popular Recent

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) 29,871 copies, 664 reviews

Son of a Witch (2005) — Narrator, some editions — 9,038 copies, 129 reviews

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (1999) 8,820 copies, 141 reviews

Mirror Mirror (2003) 5,558 copies, 67 reviews

A Lion Among Men (2008) 4,423 copies, 74 reviews

Lost (2001) 3,274 copies, 51 reviews

Out of Oz (2011) 1,921 copies, 42 reviews

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy (2007) 1,609 copies, 44 reviews

After Alice (2015) 1,487 copies, 70 reviews

Wicked / Son of a Witch (2006) 834 copies, 6 reviews

Egg and Spoon (2014) 751 copies, 47 reviews

Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker (2017) 736 copies, 25 reviews

Matchless: A Christmas Story (2009) 704 copies, 58 reviews

Leaping Beauty: And Other Animal Fairy Tales (2004) — Narrator, some editions — 505 copies, 15 reviews

The Next Queen of Heaven (2009) 452 copies, 41 reviews

Seven Spiders Spinning (Hamlet Chronicles) (1994) 338 copies, 9 reviews

A Wild Winter Swan (2020) 295 copies, 21 reviews

The Brides of Maracoor (2021) 232 copies, 1 review

The Dream Stealer (1983) 165 copies, 1 review

Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation (2009) 142 copies, 9 reviews

The Good Liar (1994) 130 copies, 4 reviews

Missing Sisters (1994) 122 copies, 3 reviews

Cress Watercress (2022) 110 copies, 17 reviews

The Oracle of Maracoor (2022) 94 copies, 1 review

Four Stupid Cupids (2000) 93 copies, 2 reviews

The Wicked Years Complete Collection: Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz (eBook Bundle) (2013) 88 copies

Innocence and Experience: Essays and Conversations on Childrens Literature (1987) — Editor — 69 copies

Six Haunted Hairdos (1997) 67 copies, 2 reviews

Three Rotten Eggs (2002) 56 copies, 3 reviews

The Witch of Maracoor (2023) 51 copies

Oasis (1996) 46 copies, 1 review

Five Alien Elves (1998) 46 copies, 1 review

A Couple of April Fools (2004) 45 copies, 3 reviews

The Peace and Quiet Diner (1988) 29 copies

One Final Firecracker (2005) 26 copies

I Feel Like the Morning Star (1989) 24 copies, 2 reviews

The Daughter of the Moon (1980) 17 copies

Crabby Cratchitt (2000) 17 copies

Wicked: the movie and the magic, coming to the big screen this November (2024) 12 copies

The Lightning Time (1978) 12 copies

Lucas Fishbone (1990) 12 copies, 1 review

Elphie (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Wicked Childhood (2025) 9 copies

Wicked / Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister / Lost / Mirror, Mirror (2003) 7 copies

Lights on the Lake (1981) 6 copies

The Wicked Series Box Set: Wicked / Son of a Witch / Out of Oz / A Lion Among Men: A Special Box Set of the Inspiration… 5 copies

A bela arremetida (2007) 3 copies

Wicked Years Series 4 Books Collection Set (Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men & Out of Oz) (2012) 3 copies

The Wicked Series Box Set: Wicked / Son of a Witch / Out of Oz / A Lion Among Men: A Special Box Set of the Inspiration… 3 copies

Scarecrow [short story] 3 copies

Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and Son of a Witch 2 copies

Wicked [2024 film] — Original novel — 2 copies, 1 review

Rut 2 copies

Novels by Gregory Maguire: Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Son of a Witch, a Lion Among Men (2010) 2 copies

The Oakthing 2 copies

Interview 2 copies

Gregory Maguire Collection Complete Wicked Years Oz Series and Fairy Tales 7 Novel Set (2012) 1 copy

The Freshwater Mermaid 1 copy

The Prank [short fiction] 1 copy

Out of Oz (Wicked Years 4) by Gregory Maguire (2012-06-07) 1 copy

Wicked LP: Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years) by Maguire, Gregory(June 24, 2008) Paperback 1 copy

A Paper Christmas 1 copy, 1 review

Wicked. Vita e opere della perfida strega dell'Ovest 1 copy

Wicked Publisher: Harper; Mass Paperback Edition edition 1 copy

Fee, Fie, Foe, et Cetera [Short Story] 1 copy

O Filho da Bruxa (Em Portuguese do Brasil) (2008) 1 copy

Wicked & Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister 1 copy

Builder of Keeps {short story} 1 copy

Wicked: A New Musical 1 copy

Puz_le 1 copy

A Few Twigs He Left Behind [short story] 1 copy

The Lost Day [short story] — Author — 1 copy

Hiddensee 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

The Wind in the Willows (1908) — Foreword, some editions — 24,839 copies, 336 reviews

Tuck Everlasting (1975) — Foreword, some editions — 16,040 copies, 559 reviews

The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest (2002) — Contributor — 1,049 copies, 18 reviews

The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm (2004) — Contributor — 1,042 copies, 15 reviews

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales (2010) — Foreword — 1,021 copies, 25 reviews

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical (2005) — Contributor — 961 copies, 16 reviews

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales (2011) — Contributor — 892 copies, 48 reviews

A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales (2000) — Contributor — 845 copies, 21 reviews

Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence (1994) — Contributor — 817 copies, 19 reviews

A Glory of Unicorns (1998) — Contributor — 614 copies, 4 reviews

Click (2007) — Contributor — 471 copies, 34 reviews

The Dragon Book: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy (2009) — Contributor — 410 copies, 13 reviews

Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy (2013) — Contributor — 384 copies, 18 reviews

Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (2008) — Contributor — 370 copies, 8 reviews

Gothic: Ten Original Dark Tales (2004) — Contributor — 358 copies, 13 reviews

After (2012) — Contributor — 355 copies, 13 reviews

Shelf Life: Stories by the Book (2003) — Contributor — 324 copies, 4 reviews

Happily Ever After (2011) — Contributor — 307 copies, 3 reviews

Half-Minute Horrors (2009) — Contributor — 289 copies, 21 reviews

The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes to their Younger Selves (2012) — Contributor — 272 copies, 5 reviews

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fifteenth Annual Collection (2002) — Contributor — 268 copies, 4 reviews

Half-human (2001) — Contributor — 258 copies, 5 reviews

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection (2005) — Contributor — 224 copies, 5 reviews

How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity (2009) — Contributor — 218 copies, 8 reviews

The Secret History of Fantasy (2010) — Contributor — 205 copies, 7 reviews

Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond (2013) — Foreword — 157 copies, 11 reviews

Wicked: Original 2003 Broadway Cast Recording (2003) — Original novel — 131 copies, 1 review

Salon Fantastique: Fifteen Original Tales of Fantasy (2006) — Contributor — 130 copies, 1 review

The Dark of the Woods: Fairy Tales for Modern Times (2006) — Contributor — 92 copies, 1 review

A Wonderful Welcome to Oz: Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz & The Emerald City of Oz (2006) — Editor — 81 copies

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure (2011) — Contributor — 65 copies, 8 reviews

Navigating The Golden Compass: Religion, Science & Dæmonology in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials (2005) — Contributor — 61 copies, 1 review

Camelot Fantastic (1998) — Contributor — 55 copies, 2 reviews

Brothers and Beasts: An Anthology of Men on Fairy Tales (2007) — Contributor — 50 copies

I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion (2000) — Contributor — 47 copies, 1 review

Trapped!: Cages of Mind and Body (1998) — Contributor — 44 copies, 1 review

First Light: A Celebration of Alan Garner (2016) — Contributor — 33 copies

Totally Middle School: Tales of Friends, Family, and Fitting In (2018) — Contributor — 17 copies, 1 review

Story Time: Essays on the Betsy Beinecke Shirley Collection of American Children's Literature (2016) — Contributor — 6 copies

American Experience: American Oz [2021 TV episode] (2021) — Himself — 6 copies, 1 review

The 2009 Winkie Convention Program Book (2009) — Contributor — 2 copies

Poems — Introduction — 1 copy, 1 review

Tagged

adventure (294) animals (697) anthology (1,047) chapter book (298) children (710) children's (1,372) children's books (267) children's fiction (347) children's literature (854) classic (738) classics (766) ebook (340) fairy tale (576) fairy tales (1,712) family (295) fantasy (8,897) fiction (10,082) friendship (305) Gregory Maguire (316) hardcover (295) historical fiction (319) horror (257) immortality (387) Kindle (273) literature (532) magic (509) novel (940) own (596) Oz (1,035) read (1,149) retelling (798) series (276) sff (269) short stories (1,251) to-read (4,476) unread (612) witches (556) Wizard of Oz (624) YA (474) young adult (740)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Maguire, Gregory
Birthdate: 1954-06-09
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Albany, New York, USA
Places of residence: Albany, New York, USA (birth)
Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
London, Middlesex, England, UK
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Vermont, USA
Education: State University of New York, Albany (BA)
Tufts University (PhD)
Occupations: author
Relationships: Newman, Andy (spouse)
Organizations: Children's Literature New England
National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance
Agent: William Reiss (John Hawkins and Associates)

Members

Discussions

Wicked in Someone explain it to me... (January 2013)

Gregory Maguire in Fairy Tales Retold (May 2007)

Reviews

Wicked [Movie tie-in]: The Inspiration for the… by Gregory Maguire

Wicked. Oh Wicked... I'm going to be 100% honest, I had no idea what I was getting into here. I absolutely adore the musical by extension now the movie. I've heard people talk about how different the book is and so I wanted to find out. The two are worlds apart and I honestly love that. The book is very not child friendly and had some moments (looking at you puppets.... and you tiger) that made me question why and what I was reading. However, I actually really enjoyed the story. I think the book does an amazing job of highlighting so many issues that impact a society. We get a look at politics, race, social class, religion, gender and a myriad of other things. The author does a fabulous job of showcasing these issues while presenting a story of a green girl who constantly has her intentions misjudged.

I am all about retellings and villain origin stories and I think this one is perfect because Elphie really has a good heart even if she's learned to hide herself behind sarcasm to survive in a world that judges her. She quickly picks up the plight of the disenfranchised in Oz and from then on everything just goes awry. I love that we get a different understanding of events from The Wizard of Oz that make you have to examine who the real villain actually is. I think that despite some of the weird and extreme and hidden behind a lot of wordy passages at times the book really has a deep message that can be applied to society today.… (more)

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BookReviewsbyTaylor | 663 other reviews | Dec 13, 2024 |

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of… by Gregory Maguire

If you're a fan of the movie or musical, this might not be for you. Significantly darker and more political. A bit traumatic. I still very much enjoyed it but go into it knowing that it will not be full of showtunes. And this book is definitely not for kids

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LadyLast | 663 other reviews | Dec 11, 2024 |

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of… by Gregory Maguire

I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it!
I'm pretty familiar with the Wizard of Oz movie, but I am not familiar with the Wicked Broadway musical at all. I figured I would read the novel that Wicked Broadway musical was based on, after seeing all of the press surrounding the movie musical. I'm now guessing the musical is only LOOSELY based on this novel??
I thought the vibe of the musical is a positive vibe? The novel was this weird, sad and metaphysical tome, mean people galore and full of disappointment after disappointment for poor Elphaba, the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. Racism, classism, cruelty towards children, bullying, animal cruelty, and so on.
It was interesting to see well-known characters in a different light, but left me just feeling a bit sad.… (more)

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deslivres5 | 663 other reviews | Dec 10, 2024 |

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of… by Gregory Maguire

Loved this book in audio!!! I found the book hard to read as the language is very choppy and hard to read. What a great take on our childhood fairy tales! I need to read more of his books.

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jodiebc | 663 other reviews | Dec 1, 2024 |

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