Day 1 - Ojo taken by gypsies in late afternoon/early evening
  ("rather too late to play outdoors and rather too early for
  supper"), meets Snufferbux - night in wagon - Unc Nunkie
  reports to Ozma at dinner & they look in Magic Picture
Day 2 - Dorothy, Cowardly Lion & Scraps leave at 4 AM -
  they arrive on the Rolling Road & Dickseyland - Reachard's
  hand leads Dorothy's party to Moojer Mountain ("although the
  mountain at first glance had seemed quite near, it took them
  all morning and part of the afternoon to reach the base") -
  they nap before ascending the mountain ("when she opened her
  eyes it was night, and the whole sky was bright with stars")
  - they are enchanted by Mooj - Ojo rescued by Realbad &
  bandits in AM (after breakfast) - he summons Opodok in the
  night & he, Snufferbux & Realbad are marooned on Crystal
  Mountain - Ozma, Unc Nunkie & Scarecrow arrive at Glinda's
  palace ("about the time Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, and Scraps
  were leaving Dicksy Land")
Day 3 - Ojo's party visits frozen city - Ojo & Snufferbux
  encounter Snoctorotomus ("the sun was still high") - they are
  reunited with Realbad & visit Tappy Town, leaving when
  "it was quite late and growing dark"  - night on plain - Realbad
  reforms during night
Day 4 - Fog in morning - Realbad encounters Ann Gora - they
  visit Unicorners - Snufferbux overpowers Realbad - Ojo &
  Snufferbux meet Elevator Man, Ojo is taken by Mooj - Roganda
  & Realbad arrive, confront Mooj - Ozma, Wizard, Unc Nunkie
  arrive, pick up Dorothy's party, leave for Seebania - Mooj
  neutralized - disenchantments, reunitements all around ("it
  was long after one o'clock")
Day 5 - Celebration in Robber's Cave "till long shadows fell
  over the spruce trees and fires and candles had to be lighted"
  - Ozma's party leaves for EC - night in cave

Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 13:19:56 -0600 (CST)
From: Ruth Berman <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: ozzy digest
 
Nathan DeHoff and Atticus Gannaway and Gili Bar-Hillel: Sensible comments on the hatefulness
of "faggots" as a term for "homosexuals" and the difference between that usage and the Ozish
"faggots."  I don't think the Ozish "faggots" always means just "bundle of twigs," although it does
in "Kabumpo".  It seems to be something insulting, but the contexts suggest "unpleasant" as the
meaning, without implying comment on sexuality.  I suppose it partly depends on what "gormish"
means, but the context suggests "pedantic" as a translation for "gormish".  There does seem to
be at least one pleasant homosexual in Oz, "Dick with the queer hatband" (he wears a girl's sash
around the brim of his hat), in Dicksy City ("Ojo").  (But as the phrase is rather obscure
nowadays, maybe I should add that "queer as Dick's hatband" used to be a synonym for
"homosexual.")

Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 08:36:46 -0700
From: "Stephen J. Teller" <steller at pittstate.edu>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 04-14-97
 
Ruth:  "Queer as Dick's hatband" originated as a reference to Richard
Cromwell, the son of Oliver Cromwell the Lord Protector of England.
When he tried to succeed his father he found he could not wear his
"Hatband" i.e. the crown.  The phrase long precedes the meaning of Queer
as homosexual which the OED gives no citation of before 1922.
 
Steve T.

Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 22:31:53 -0700
From: Nathan Mulac DeHoff <vovat at geocities.com>
Subject: Ozzy Digest
 
Ruth:
Now that I think about it, Dicksy Land might be a community of
homosexuals, which would explain why only men live there, and why they
are constantly referred to as "queer."  I didn't think of this the first
few times I read the book, and I doubt most of Thompson's child readers
would have either, so I kinda wonder why Thompson put the episode in
_Ojo_.  Maybe Thompson had written the Ojo parts of the story, realized
that Ozma would probably send someone looking for Ojo, and put in an
episode for Dorothy's party.  BTW, is there any signifance to defying
someone on his white horse, or was this just silliness?
--
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
lnvf at grove.iup.edu or vovat at geocities.com

Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 19:33:24 -0500
From: "David G. Hulan" <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest 04-16-97
 
Nathan:
If there's something specific about defying someone on his white horse
I'm unaware of it, but there's the fairly common expression "man on a
white horse," referring to a charismatic dictator who takes the reins of
government when the current government loses the support of the people.
Mussolini, Franco, Hitler, Peron, Castro - they all were referred to in
that way in their early days in power. I would guess that RPT had
something of the sort in mind in OJO.
 
David Hulan

Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 08:14:57 -0600 (CST)
From: Ruth Berman <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: oz digest
 
Steve Teller: I think RPT must have had the more modern meaning in
mind for the hatbanded Dick rather than Richard Cromwell.  The text
specifies that what was odd about the hatband was that it was a girl's
sash.
 
Ruth Berman

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Sat Dec 1, 2001  11:08 am
Subject:  BCF: Ojo in Oz

I haven't finished my reread of OJO yet, but have some preliminary thoughts.

This is one of my favorite Thompson books, exceeded only by the next
two and maybe _Silver Princess_. It's exciting, scary (arguably the
scariest, with _Magical Mimics_ the only close competition), has two
of the best supporting characters in Snufferbux and Realbad, and the
IEs in Crystal City, Unicroners, and Dicksy Land are more amusing
than most (though the Elevator Man isn't - but that one is fairly
brief).

And yet...it does more violence to the image of Oz than any other
canonical book I can think of, except possibly one or two of the
Neills.

1. The whole motivation of the gypsies, and later the bandits
(including Realbad) is to acquire the five thousand bags of sapphires
Mooj has offered as a reward for Ojo. Yet we've always been told that
jewels are common as dirt in Oz, and specifically sapphires are like
gravel around Lake Orizon to the extent that Cheeriobed's crown is
studded with cobblestones because they're relatively rare. What value
would five thousand bags of sapphires have for dishonest folk? It's
like offering a reward of a truckload of gravel - without the truck.
Sure, it has some value - but getting the value out of it would
require a lot of hard work, harder than making a living a lot of
other ways. Not the sort of thing to appeal to someone looking for an
easy living.

2. Snufferbux was exhibited at "fairs throughout Oz" chained up with
a collar. Nobody noticed this and let Ozma, or one of the other local
rulers, know that an animal was being mistreated? It's one thing for
something like that to go on in one of the little isolated
communities that seem to dot Oz, especially in the post-Baum books,
but for it to go on among a group that apparently spends its time
traveling all over the country, for, IIRC, five years, stretches the
bounds of belief.

3. What's the point of being a bandit in Oz? Everyone can have
whatever he wants just by asking for it; why take it by force? Rather
than being "the original labor-saving device," as one historian I've
read characterized group-on-group violence, it seems to be more work
than acquiring goods honestly.

4. It contains the only instance I recall of a human character
actually killing and eating an animal in Oz, when Realbad kills the
birds and roasts them, and Ojo and Snufferbux eat them without any
qualms.

The other cavil I have about the book is that it greatly overuses
coincidence, as did _Yellow Knight_.

1. When the gypsies come to the EC looking for Ojo, with no idea
where he might be or what he looks like, they just happen to set up
camp across the road from his cottage.

2. He just happens on the whistle that calls Opodock. (OK, Oz seems
to be practically littered with magic items waiting to be picked up,
so maybe that isn't so odd. If it weren't that whistle he'd likely
have found something else lying around that would have served the
purpose.)

3. The bandits - who just happen to be led by Ojo's unknown father -
find the gypsies in the very short interval between Ojo's kidnapping
and his delivery to Mooj.

4. Both Ojo's and Dorothy's parties converge on Mooj's cottage even
though the first actively wants to avoid it and the second has no
reason to go there.

There are probably others that don't come to mind, but those are four
major ones without which there wouldn't be a story. (And letting
Scraps' wish take effect when it's Dorothy who swallowed the pill
doesn't seem to make a lot of sense - how close does someone have to
be when another person takes a wishing pill to override the wish? In
contact? Within five feet? In the same room? Within earshot? Who
knows?)

Nevertheless, I like the book a lot.

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Sun Dec 2, 2001  6:26 pm
Subject:  OJO plot

OJO was one of the first Thompson Oz books I read, perhaps the first, and
it remains one of my favorites. Rereading the series in order of
publication has helped show me why. For one thing, the book borrows plot
elements from several immediate predecessors, but combines them in new ways
so they add up to more.

From PURPLE PRINCE, we have a boy, seemingly a poor nobody,
becoming royalty; and that young hero torn between two bickering
companions, one a curmudgeonly animal.

PIRATES lends an archetypal brigand who can't really be bad ("Ojo,
for one reason and another, could not believe that Realbad was really as
bad as he pretended to be" [87]; Realbad leaving "a short hunting knife"
after taking a large breakfast [125] reflects how both Captain Salt and
Peter left behind riches for what they plundered).

From YELLOW KNIGHT, Thompson borrows a prince long in exile from
his enchanted kingdom, forced to wander in wilderness (who even chooses his
course by tossing his sword in the air [222]); and a villain who's
subjugated a rich land by magic, yet is so nervous about his hold on power
that he sets in motion events which undo him.

All those threads are retwisted to give OJO a stronger, more
compelling storyline. For instance, in PURPLE PRINCE Thompson had to keep
Randy's quest a secret in his mind, forcing a little distance between her
readers and her protagonist. Because Ojo knows as little about his
background as we do, Thompson needs no such subterfuges in this book. We
learn alongside him, and thus can see events from his point of view without
missing elements. (That said, it would have been nice to see more of Ojo's
emotional response to meeting his mother.)

Thompson can drop early hints about Realbad's mysterious background
[94-5, 111], but doesn't have to cover up details until she enters his
point of view in chapter 14. By eschewing transformation as the reason Ree
Alla Bad isn't on his throne, she doesn't have to do away with the Realbad
we've come to love, as she so drastically changes Sir Hokus.

The PIRATES theme of men trying to be worse than they really are
and the PURPLE PRINCE tension between companions braid together in OJO,
producing more tension than before. Kabumpo and Jinnicky's feud was just a
bother since they were on the same quest. Realbad and Snufferbux are at
odds over more than personalities; the bear truly distrusts the bandit,
with excellent reason. Ojo is caught between them [shown explicitly at 50,
60, 78, 99], but not just because he wants all his friends to get along; he
knows his life may be at stake. Ojo's attraction to Realbad [56, 256] is
not, like Peter's to Salt, a simple wish to act tough but a danger (though
we eventually learn there's even more between them).

Twice Ojo feels betrayed and sickened by Realbad's seeming greed
[77, 255], yet he also promises the robber he won't run off [61, 78] and
expects his protection [259]. Twice Snuffer drags him away from the bandit,
both times proving significant to the plot. (Snuffer and Realbad have their
own moments of being torn in two, too [222, 228].) The emotional and the
physical aspects of OJO's plot work together here, producing one of
Thompson's most gripping narratives.

In fact, OJO is different from many other Oz books in that it has
only one goal--every character is trying to find or secure Ojo himself. Yet
because of the emotional depth of the characters' quests and what we know
(and don't know) about them, that's enough to create a complex and
compelling plot.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Sun Dec 2, 2001  6:26 pm
Subject:  OJO Ojo

As seems to be her regular working method, once Thompson decided to write a
sequel to PATCHWORK GIRL she reread that book; Ojo summarizes it at length
in chapter 3. I also looked back in PATCHWORK GIRL to prepare for rereading
OJO, focusing on a series of drawings of the Munchkin boy--

page 39: He secretly adds more brains to Margolotte's mixture
183: He secretly picks the six-leafed clover
227: Having concealed the clover, he hesitates to confess to Ozma
325: He sneaks a drop of oil from Nick Chopper
At all those moments, Ojo clearly knows he's doing something he could get
in trouble for. He's also been shown or told that there are other ways he
might get what he wants. But he goes ahead and does it anyway, usually with
some rationalization.

Similarly, at the start of this book Ojo disobeys Unc Nunkie's
instructions and then argues his choice to himself [24]. He wants to see
the gypsies up close, just as he's later attracted to being a bandit [56,
94, 256]. Though he'd probably deny it, Ojo is still prey to his
disobedient impulses.

Thompson picks up other aspects of Baum's character as well. In
contrast to many of her own young heroes, Ojo isn't much good in a fight.
We saw that with the Tottenhots, when Dorothy did more damage than he. We
see it again as Ojo is dragged around by an old woman [28], roughed up by
poor children [30], and easily manhandled by the bandits [53]. He sits out
his companions' fights with the crystal guards [122] and Snoctorotomus
[198]. At a sudden sound in the fog, Ojo "dropped his rod and flung his
arms around Snufferbux" [229]. Realbad even has to steady "the boy as his
foot slipped into a gopher hole" [226]. Though he looks ahead to "when he
[next] wrestled with the boys in the Emerald City," that's only because he
expects to have Realbad's protective ring [204]. (It also seems pertinent
that Ojo's closest friend in the capital has so far been small, gentle Button-Bright.)

That's not to say that Ojo is either completely passive or
non-physical. He saves Realbad from his gang [83], and figures out the
Tappy Town king's directions [256] and other useful knowledge. He can "walk
on his hands and turn cartwheels" [194], and dance "a hornpipe he had
learned from Cap'n Bill" [216]. (It's not clear whether he's learned to
swim since PATCHWORK GIRL [124], but Dorothy has [151].) But Baum's
character simply isn't as aggressive as Peter or Randy, and Thompson
doesn't try to make him so.

Another aspect of Ojo's character in PATCHWORK GIRL is his
emotional fragility. He often bursts into tears, far more often than Baum's
other young protagonists (male or female). Thompson rarely shows her heroes
crying, but she puts tears in Ojo's eyes twice [53, 255].
Ojo's frequent tears and complaints about being "Unlucky" in
PATCHWORK GIRL have led me to wonder if Baum was depicting what was later
termed depression. Again, Thompson seems to have picked up on that tendency
in Ojo. Three times she refers to him as feeling "depressed" [32,
91, 192].

In contrast, that word appears only once in each of WISHING HORSE and
CAPTAIN SALT, the next two books in the series. Ojo goes through severe
mood swings as he struggles with feelings of betrayal [e.g., "All that Ojo
felt now was repugnance and terror"--77; also 193, 255]. Of course, those
shifts reflect the reverses of the plot, but Ojo appears prone to more
emotional highs and lows than most young heroes.

In that regard, Ojo makes an interesting contrast with Realbad,
"nonchalant and gay as ever" [274]. "Never worry about a thing until it
happens," the outlaw counsels [58]. He takes defeat, victory, having his
"favorite toe" trod on, being thrown out of someone else's court, and
apologizing to an angry unicorn with grace [79-80, 87, 218-9, 230]. Even
when poor circumstances leave him fuming, he's "restored to instant good
humor" by one of Thompson's usual extraordinarily lucky breaks [96].
Realbad seems to have the steady, happy personality Ojo lacks.
Or does he? Ojo believes Realbad "looked both sad and worried"
[74], and feels "very sorry for him" [82]. His cheeriness seems to depend
on being an outlaw: "Why be good and glum when it's so much more fun to be
bad and gay?" he asks [99]. Realbad links his current behavior to past
losses: "All my possessions and treasures were stolen from me by
gentlemanly and noble rascals, so I have become an ignoble and
ungentlemanly rascal" [95].

In the early chapters Realbad falls asleep notably fast [81, 129].
But in chapter 14 he "slept scarcely a wink, so busy was he with thoughts
of the past and plans for the future." His fondness for Ojo has brought to
the surface emotions he's long suppressed for the sake of his wife, and he
has to confront his issues. At last, it appears, the "bad and gay" bandit
acknowledges that he had "happier days before he became an outlaw" [221].
When Realbad encounters Mooj, "For the first time...Ojo saw the
bandit turn pale and actually tremble" [277]. The formerly laughing bandit
now shows nothing but anger and "anguish" [279]. He succumbs to an Ojo-like
moment of groaning and despair: "No, no, everything is ruined" [281]. From
that point on, Ozma and the Wizard fix everything; Realbad is out of his depth.
When Realbad finally tells his full story, he shows a wider range
of emotions than ever before: "wistful" [289], "reflective" [292],
"defiant" [294]. He acknowledges that he became a bandit out of feeling
"bitter and disillusioned," not because of a rational (or rationalized)
choice [294]. What's Ree Alla Bad's real personality? We've mostly seen the
bonhomie he put on to suppress his anger and loss. The king and prince of
Seebania may have more in common emotionally than we know.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Mon Dec 3, 2001  12:41 am
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO plot

J. L. Bell:
> From YELLOW KNIGHT, Thompson borrows a prince long in exile from
>his enchanted kingdom, forced to wander in wilderness (who even chooses his
>course by tossing his sword in the air [222])

Randy and Kabumpo choose a course this way in PURPLE PRINCE, but I don't
believe Sir Hokus ever does (in YELLOW KNIGHT or elsewhere).

>and a villain who's
>subjugated a rich land by magic, yet is so nervous about his hold on power
>that he sets in motion events which undo him.

I see Mooj as one of the most frightening villains in the series. While the
comparison to the Sultan of Samandra is apt, the Sultan seems more human,
what with his comic tantrums, affection for his dog, and actual motivations
for his actions. Mooj, on the other hand, is completely mysterious, with no
explanation as to why he wants to rule Seebania, and no real peeks into his
sinister mind at all. I'll have more to say on Mooj later, most likely.

Nathan

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Mon Dec 3, 2001  1:14 am
Subject:  BCF: Ojo's history and Munchkin politics

I haven't finished re-reading OJO yet, but there are still a few things I
wanted to say about it, mostly regarding the history of Ojo and Seebania as
provided by Realbad and Unc Nunkie. The Seebanians apparently ruled the
entire southern Munchkin Country until Ozma came to the throne. While this
fits with what we know from PATCHWORK GIRL (in which it is revealed that Unc
Nunkie might have been King of the Munchkins if they hadn't united with the
other quadrants in accepting Ozma as their sole ruler), it's slightly
difficult to reconcile with what we know from GIANT HORSE. By the time Ozma
came to the throne, the former King of the Munchkins (the northern
Munchkins, most likely) had been enchanted (and possibly destroyed) by
Mombi, and the Wicked Witch of the East (whose domain probably consisted
mostly of the central Munchkin Country) had been crushed by Dorothy's house.
Hence, there wasn't really any strong ruler in the Munchkin Country aside
from the King of Seebania. There is, however, a King of the Munchkins in
OZMA and ROAD, but we don't know who this is. Wouldn't it have made sense
to give that position to the King of Seebania, who would presumably have
become the most important ruler in Munchkinland by that time? Or was Ozma
unsure of the loyalties of this ruler? Keep in mind that the Winkie and
Quadling rulers were both personal friends of hers, and the GWN's good
reputation was well-known. Maybe she appointed an interim ruler who would
be likely to support her, since unifying the previously fragmented Land of
Oz was a high priority at the beginning of her reign.

Considering Ojo's age in PATCHWORK GIRL, it must not have been very long
between Ozma's ascension to the throne and Ojo's birth (which occurred
shortly after Mooj's conquest of Seebania). Does anyone have any timely
estimates for when these events might have taken place? Don't forget that
Unc Nunkie was friends with Dr. Pipt after his escape from Seebania (I'm
assuming that Pipt didn't know him when he was a Prince, although the
crooked magician is aware of Unc's royal blood), but before the magician
started stirring the kettles for his second batch of Powder of Life, which
took six years.

Since Prince Stephen was a major figure in Seebanian and southern Munchkin
politics, it strikes me as somewhat odd that no one would recognize him as
Seebanian royalty. Actually, Pipt knows that he is related to the old
Munchkin Kings, but doesn't seem to know that Unc was ever active in ruling.
For that matter, if Seebania was such a major power, why would it take so
long for Ozma to find out about Mooj's conquest? Perhaps Mooj's magic had
something to do with this.

Nathan

From:  Tigerbooks at a...
Date:  Mon Dec 3, 2001  2:00 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] BCF: Ojo vs. OJO

I have not reread OJO in a long while -- and probably don't plan to. But I thought it
perhaps interesting why I don't much care for the book anymore.

PATCHWORK GIRL is arguably my favorite Oz book being held at bay only by OZMA,
ROAD, and GLINDA. Anyway, one of the things that I thought the very best
qualities of PATCHWORK GIRL when I first read it was that it was the first (and
almost only) look at a real, normal boy -- and the average citizenry and how
they lived. The fact that Oz had "outer reaches" and indeed that
folks could be starving made Oz very real. Ojo was also Baum's strongest boy,
IMHO. Also it seemed neat that adventures happened to an everyday male kid for
once. (Button Bright is too weak and Tip is a girl).

So all that said OJO ruins Ojo for me so I've moved it aside.  I did
rather like the book (taken on its own) the first time I read it. I loved the
atmosphere of the gypsies, the friendship with Snufferbux , etc., but if we'd
found out Snuffer was the King of the Munchkins I'd have liked the book alot
more.  

RPT seems to have had a fondness for killing off all the best Oz characters.
She repeatedlty takes good, living, and interesting characters and turns them
into life-less royal bric-a-brac. WHo cares for Peg Amy after shes turned to
flesh? WHo prefers the Yellow Knight to Sir Hokus? Who cares about Orin
compared to the GWN? Or when Planetty is turned into THE MEAT PRINCEES OF OZ.

It's probably a good idea that RPT stopped at 21 titles or she might have
eventually gotten around to making Dorothy a Princess of Oz that was kidnapped
at birth and shipped off to the US for safekeeping. Ooops, I guess Frank J.
Baum beat her to it : )


Best,

David M.

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Mon Dec 3, 2001  9:48 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] BCF: Ojo vs. OJO

David Maxine:
>So all that said OJO ruins Ojo for me so I've moved it aside. I did rather
>like the book (taken on its own) the first time I read it. I loved the
>atmosphere of the gypsies, the friendship with Snufferbux , etc., but if
>we'd
>found out Snuffer was the King of the Munchkins I'd have liked the book
>alot
>more.

Well, Baum did mention that Unc Nunkie was related to the old Kings of the
Munchkins, so I don't think it's too unreasonable for Thompson to make him
and Ojo into princes.

>RPT seems to have had a fondness for killing off all the best Oz
>characters.
>She repeatedlty takes good, living, and interesting characters and turns
>them
>into life-less royal bric-a-brac. WHo cares for Peg Amy after shes turned
>to
>flesh?

Well, Prince Pompadore, maybe.

>WHo prefers the Yellow Knight to Sir Hokus? Who cares about Orin
>compared to the GWN? Or when Planetty is turned into THE MEAT PRINCEES OF
>OZ.

I think one problem isn't simply that Thompson reveals these characters to
be enchanted (or otherwise displaced) royalty, but that she really doesn't
do anything with them afterwards. Aside from their brief appearances at the
party in WISHING HORSE, they pretty much disappear after their true
identities are revealed. We don't see Ojo living in Seebania, or Orin
helping her husband to rule the Munchkins.

>It's probably a good idea that RPT stopped at 21 titles or she might have
>eventually gotten around to making Dorothy a Princess of Oz that was
>kidnapped at birth and shipped off to the US for safekeeping. Ooops, I
>guess
>Frank J. Baum beat her to it : )

He did? When did he do that? The only Frank J. Baum work I've read is
LAUGHING DRAGON, and Dorothy wasn't even in that.

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Dec 4, 2001  12:35 pm
Subject:  OJO and Ojo

David Maxine wrote:
<<one of the things that I thought the very best qualities of PATCHWORK
GIRL when I first read it was that it was the first (and almost only) look
at a real, normal boy -- and the average citizenry and how they lived. The
fact that Oz had "outer reaches" and indeed that folks could be starving
made Oz very real. Ojo was also Baum's strongest boy, IMHO. Also it seemed
neat that adventures happened to an everyday male kid for once. (Button
Bright is too weak and Tip is a girl).

So all that said OJO ruins Ojo for me so I've moved it aside. I did rather
like the book (taken on its own) the first time I read it. I loved the
atmosphere of the gypsies, the friendship with Snufferbux , etc., but if
we'd found out Snuffer was the King of the Munchkins I'd have liked the
book alot more.

RPT seems to have had a fondness for killing off all the best Oz
characters. She repeatedlty takes good, living, and interesting characters
and turns them into life-less royal bric-a-brac.>>

I heartily agree with your criticism of Thompson's predilection for making
interesting characters into uninteresting royalty. I dislike it especially
when she works such changes on well established characters (Sir Hokus,
Scarecrow, Good Witch of the North).

But I don't feel that way about Ojo. I'm happy to think of him as crown
prince of Seebania, and frustrated that copyright protection keeps other
writers from picking up on that history in print. (Since OZIANA received a
blanket permission from Reilly & Lee years ago, it could publish my story
"Ozma Fights the Sniffles," which depicts Prince Ojo visiting
Button-Bright's sickbed.)

Why don't I feel any loss of Ojo the ordinary Munchkin boy? Because Baum
had already removed the character's most interesting characteristics at the
end of PATCHWORK GIRL. Through most of that book Ojo's desperate,
despairing, on an emotional edge. But at the end of PATCHWORK GIRL, the
Wizard restores Unc Nunkie, the boy suddenly decides to become Ojo the
Lucky, and his life is fixed. Fixed in two senses: he seems to suffer no
tension, physical or emotional, and he's part of the same Emerald City
crowd as most other Ozian favorites. No longer facing the ethical dilemmas
of whether to pick a six-leafed clover or sacrifice a yellow butterfly, the
boy mouths platitudes like, "Only wicked people steal." In sum, Ojo becomes
TOO ordinary to be interesting.

It seems telling to me that Ojo seldom appears in Baum's books after
PATCHWORK GIRL except in Emerald City crowd scenes. In LOST PRINCESS,
Glinda sends him off to the Munchkin Country with Unc Nunkie and Dr. Pipt
to search for Ozma, and we never hear what they find. In GLINDA, Ojo
travels to Skeezer Lake, but makes no significant contribution to the
rescue. In contrast, those same books get a lot of tension, comedy, and
reader exasperation out of Button-Bright, another non-royal boy but with no
ordinary personality.

So when Thompson throws Ojo into another adventure in OJO, and also seems
to resurrect some of his earlier edgy persona, I'm happy to make his
acquaintance again. Of course, the ending of OJO threatens to make the boy
once again too happy to be interesting. It may even erase the few elements
of Ojo's life that Baum had left distinct: Unc Nunkie's silence, Ojo's
orphanhood, their non-palatial home. But I don't think Ojo has to become
that boring. (At the very least, Neill's choice to make him Kabumpo's
elephant boy and Snow's restoration of him and Unc Nunkie to the Emerald
City don't make him any more interesting.)

As my earlier messages described, I think Baum and Thompson depict Ojo as
tending to moodiness and willing to break rules. Those traits come out most
strongly when he's in tough circumstances, but they appear even before he
gets into trouble. I don't imagine, furthermore, that Ojo's reunion with
his royal parents will be entirely smooth. Their personalities and
histories are just too different. He'll have to adjust to Unc Nunkie's
greater talkativeness, and the realization that the old man was keeping
secrets from him. At some point, Prince Ojo will start to be moody, and Ree
Alla Bad, former bandit chief, may well become exasperated. In sum, I see
much more potential for Prince Ojo to have new, interesting adventures than
I see for Prince Tatters, King Reddy, or Prince Pon.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Mon Dec 3, 2001  11:22 pm
Subject:  OJO and the Ozian traditions

David Hulan wrote (and it's good to be able to type that again):
<<it does more violence to the image of Oz than any other canonical book I
can think of, except possibly one or two of the Neills.

1. The whole motivation of the gypsies, and later the bandits (including
Realbad) is to acquire the five thousand bags of sapphires Mooj has offered
as a reward for Ojo. Yet we've always been told that jewels are common as
dirt in Oz, and specifically sapphires are like gravel around Lake Orizon
to the extent that Cheeriobed's crown is studded with cobblestones because
they're relatively rare.>>

A good point, especially when coupled with your reminder that Baum's Oz
contained great resources and very little real want, and thus little reason
to steal, kidnap, and so on. I see that the gypsies have some "copper
coins" [51], and Dorothy worries about eating "without paying" [176]. OJO
is thus far from the first time Thompson has ignored the "no money, no
poverty" rule in Oz for the sake of her plot or atmosphere.
Almost all of OJO seems to take place in southern Munchkinland, the
region below the Munchkin River claimed or dominated by Seebania [290].
That kingdom was presumably a rival of the Ozure Isles, whose king seems to
have had his own claim on ruling the Munchkins. Is it possible that the
sapphires that are so common near Lake Orizon are rare in, and rarely
exported to, this corner of Oz? That seems highly unlikely as a resolution
of this problem, but it may be a start.

I recall, but not clearly enough to identify, some Oz book or story
saying that a metal we consider common--perhaps tin--is rare in Oz. That
leaves the possibility that there's some natural resource which Ozians
value highly enough to motivate these sorts of shenanigans. It may not
really be sapphires.

<<2. Snufferbux was exhibited at "fairs throughout Oz" chained up with a
collar. Nobody noticed this and let Ozma, or one of the other local rulers,
know that an animal was being mistreated?>>

Snuffer says he's spent the last five years "begging at country fairs"
[66]. The farmers who attend those might well be prejudiced against bears
or beggars, or both, and disinclined to help him.
Furthermore, when Ojo threatens Nome with Ozma's name, the old
gypsy woman squeals, "No one finds the gypsies! . . . Let them try!  Let
them try!" [44] That implies that if anyone did complain to the authorities
about how the gypsies were treating their bear "Rufus," the band would have
melted into the highways before they could be caught.
Of course, at the end of the book Ozma does reportedly find the
gypsies, with no evident trouble or delay, and exile them to the Great
Outside World [more about that later].

<<4. It contains the only instance I recall of a human character actually
killing and eating an animal in Oz, when Realbad kills the birds and roasts
them, and Ojo and Snufferbux eat them without any qualms.>>

It's worse than that, I think, and not just because Realbad also takes
"wild duck eggs" from a nest and cooks them [224]. ("Honey?  Quack Quack.
Have you see the kids? Quack. They were just here a minute ago.")
Having made her outlaws into huntsmen [more about that later, too],
Thompson furnishes their cave with "Bearskin rugs" and "the heads of deer,
elk, and other large animals" [57]. Thompson makes no bones about the fact
that those trophies once had bones inside: "Ojo and Snuffer shared a rug by
the fire, and the bear sorrowfully felt and measured the hide of his huge
and fallen kinsman" [81]. We can hope that Ree Alla Bad remodels that cave
before Snuffer goes there to hibernate [304]. (There's also the practical
mystery of how the bandits acquired these trophies since "no person or
creature in Oz can be permanently destroyed," and even the beheaded
Snoctorotomus "may pull itself together" at any snoctoromoment [203].)
Having become acquainted with their quarry doesn't seem to deter
these bandits, since they talk about roasting Snufferbux for breakfast or
skinning him to make another rug [49, 61]. (Why else would Realbad order
his men to "Bring the bear," who has no monetary value, along with Ojo
[53]?) Eventually the outlaws leave Snuffer alone, but they still roast "a
great side of venison" [63], which Ojo remembers eating fondly [301].  (This
is quite a contrast with his PATCHWORK GIRL diet, dominated by bread and cheese.)
Snufferbux calls himself "carnivorous" [64], and eats live ants in
a pinch [124]. For the most part, however, he seems to prefer a vegetarian
diet. "Bears do not eat little boys," the Cowardly Lion assures Scraps
[147], and this bear certainly doesn't. His worst appetite is a sweet tooth
for honey [66]. As Realbad plucks and roasts the "two wild fowl" you
mention, "Snuffer, who did not care for meat, removed himself" [203]. The
rabbit in Neill's drawing on page 90 probably has no reason to eye Snuffer so nervously.
I think it's significant that Thompson assures us the birds Realbad
cooks are "wild fowl" and "wild duck"--they're outlaws like him, implicitly
not covered by Ozma's protective laws. Of course, OJO is also the first
book that actually shows us the Tin Woodman with a yellow butterfly [72].
Thompson clearly knew of the tradition of protecting all creatures in Oz.
She just went with, and extended, a rival tradition, most evident in Baum's
books when the Cowardly Lion is hunting: the law of the jungle.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Dec 4, 2001  3:19 pm
Subject:  OJO Mooj

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<I see Mooj as one of the most frightening villains in the
series...completely mysterious, with no explanation as to why he wants to
rule Seebania, and no real peeks into his sinister mind at all.>>

On page 183, Thompson has Mooj say, "Sit down, and hear my story." This
turns into a ruse to calm the Cowardly Lion, but it feels like a false
start--as if Thompson was then going to reveal more about her villain but
decided against it.

Neill seems to have come up with Mooj's nasty clock face, and I think
that's what makes him such a memorable villain. Thompson says only that
he's a "bent and evil-looking old Munchkin" [how nice to know what evil
looks like], and Dorothy and her companions see nothing striking about his
appearance [180]. Thompson seems to have created a standard old, evil
magician for her plot, and added the one idiosyncrasy of clock-making to
make him somewhat distinct.

(Timepieces seem to have been in Thompson's mind even in the scenes without
Mooj. To get an early start in searching for Ojo, Dorothy sets her alarm
clock [140]. Snuffer at first thinks the bell from Ojo's ring is coming
from a clock [196]. And Unc Nunkie escaped from Mooj's imprisonment by
bribing a guard with his gold watch [294].)

Not only does Mooj's interest in Seebania go unexplained, but once he has
the kingdom he doesn't appear to do anything with it. He tells Scraps he
has "plenty of time" for making clocks [185]. As far as we know, during all
the early chapters of OJO he's at his clockworkshop awaiting
bounty-hunters, not worrying about Seebania at all.

Ree Alla Bad, his rival, offers an explanation: Mooj has "secured by his
magic spells the loyalty and support of all the Seebanians" [292].  (That
said, the two guards holding Isomere in chains look "sorrowful" [287].) It
takes Ozma's magic to release the population from these "mischievous
spells" [298].

We should note that Glinda's Great Book of Records refers to Mooj as "The
King of Seebania...taking steps to secure his crown" [190], with no hint
that he's not the legitimate ruler. It's also interesting that, despite Ree
Alla Bad's statement that "If I ever tried to return...at that moment
Isomere would be utterly and dreadfully destroyed" [292], Mooj hasn't set
up such an instantaneous spell, so he doesn't use magic as much as the new
king says he did.

Which leads to some provocative alternative readings. One lies in Mooj's
origin as "an old wise man from the north" [291]. Seebania dominated the
southern part of Munchkinland. Perhaps Mooj was an agent from the Ozure
Isles or another regional power (Kereteria or Wutz?) charged with taking
control of Seebania. Once he'd accomplished that, he could indulge his real
interest in clocks.

Secondly, we have to admit that OJO shows us only the Ree Alla Bad
dynasty's take on Seebanian history, in which they're the good and
legitimate rulers and Mooj the usurper. Thompson's note in the front of the
Reilly & Lee edition even states that she "called [Ojo] on the radio phone
and begged him to tell me the whole exciting story!"

What if Ojo's grandfather, who was "fonder of hunting than of ruling"
[291], wasn't serving his subjects? We know that Seebania's influence
declined during his reign, though Ree Alla Bad insists that was because he
was loyal to Ozma--who is, of course, right in front of him and has just
turned a man into a sparrow [290]. What if Mooj engineered a palace coup
that the Seebanian population supported not because of spells but because
they were tired of their previous king? Shamsbad doesn't seem to have
suffered during Mooj's rule.

That brings up a yet more disturbing possibility. Mooj seems to have kept
Isomere comfortable in Seebania. She has an "apartment" [294], and we see
her first dressed in "silvery satin" [287], not rags or a gardener's smock.
She's weeping, but that's because after many years Mooj is about to
transform or do away with her--though he never does. Has Isomere been loyal
to Ree Alla Bad all that time? Or might she have reached an understanding
with Seebania's new king? Early in her captivity, Isomere gave birth to a
baby boy--which comes as a complete surprise to Ree Alla Bad. So here's the
kicker: Is Ojo truly his son? Why do the names "Mooj" and
"Ojo" overlap so
much?

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Dec 4, 2001  3:19 pm
Subject:  OJO comment corrections

In discussing how characters seem to kill and eat animals happily in OJO, I
neglected the Cowardly Lion's response to seeing the Dickey Bird alight
nearby: "Mmm-m! Breakfast!" [153]

I might be pronouncing Snoctorotomus wrong in my head. I've been seeing it
as derived from "toro," or bull, and thus pronounced
"snock-TORE-oh-TOE-mus." But Thompson may well have meant it to rhyme with
hippopotamus: "SNOCK-tuh-ROT-uh-MUS."

Finally, I hastily wrote, "that word ['depressed'] appears only once in
each of WISHING HORSE and CAPTAIN SALT, the next two books in the series."
I should have said those were the next two books for which I have
electronic texts. More haste, less SPEEDY.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Dec 4, 2001  1:10 pm
Subject:  OJO at swords' points

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<> From YELLOW KNIGHT, Thompson borrows a prince long in exile from
>his enchanted kingdom, forced to wander in wilderness (who even chooses his
>course by tossing his sword in the air [222])

Randy and Kabumpo choose a course this way in PURPLE PRINCE, but I don't
believe Sir Hokus ever does (in YELLOW KNIGHT or elsewhere).>>

YELLOW KNIGHT, chapter 11, but I hadn't remembered the similar episode in
PURPLE PRINCE.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Tue Dec 4, 2001  5:32 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO and Ojo

J. L. Bell:
>I heartily agree with your criticism of Thompson's predilection for making
>interesting characters into uninteresting royalty. I dislike it especially
>when she works such changes on well established characters (Sir Hokus,
>Scarecrow, Good Witch of the North).

While I basically agree with you, it could certainly be argued that the GWN
wasn't exactly a well-established character, since Baum only mentions her
twice (I think) after her somewhat major appearance in WIZARD. The more
annoying aspect to this transformation is that Thompson herself gives the
GWN a name, a home, two companions, and various magical items, and then
promptly discards most of them. There was definitely room for more
development than Thompson was willing to provide. As for the Scarecrow, he
decided NOT to be restored to his human body, so I wouldn't say ROYAL BOOK
ruined his character at all. The most annoying change for me was that of
Urtha being changed back into Princess Pretty Good. She not only gave up
her uniqueness, but also her fairy powers.

>In LOST PRINCESS,
>Glinda sends him off to the Munchkin Country with Unc Nunkie and Dr. Pipt
>to search for Ozma, and we never hear what they find.

Has anyone written about the other three expeditions in LOST PRINCESS? This
seems to me to be a fairly obvious story idea, but I have yet to see anyone
who has used it.

Nathan

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Tue Dec 4, 2001  5:38 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO and the Ozian traditions

J. L. Bell:
>Having made her outlaws into huntsmen [more about that later, too],
>Thompson furnishes their cave with "Bearskin rugs" and "the heads of deer,
>elk, and other large animals" [57]. Thompson makes no bones about the fact
>that those trophies once had bones inside: "Ojo and Snuffer shared a rug by
>the fire, and the bear sorrowfully felt and measured the hide of his huge
>and fallen kinsman" [81]. We can hope that Ree Alla Bad remodels that cave
>before Snuffer goes there to hibernate [304]. (There's also the practical
>mystery of how the bandits acquired these trophies since "no person or
>creature in Oz can be permanently destroyed," and even the beheaded
>Snoctorotomus "may pull itself together" at any snoctoromoment [203].)

I suppose it's possible that these animals were killed before the
immortality enchantment took full effect. The Gump was certainly shot and
killed, and was dead until Tip revived its head with the Powder of Life.
This would mean, however, that the bandits had not killed any animals for
many years, which does not entirely fit with their idea to turn Snufferbux
into steaks or a rug.

Nathan

From:  Tigerbooks at a...
Date:  Tue Dec 4, 2001  7:30 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] BCF: Ojo vs. OJO

David M. wrote:

>It's probably a good idea that RPT stopped at 21 titles or she might have
>eventually gotten around to making Dorothy a Princess of Oz that was
>kidnapped at birth and shipped off to the US for safekeeping. Ooops, I
>guess
>Frank J. Baum beat her to it : )

Natan replied:

He did?  When did he do that?  The only Frank J. Baum work I've read is
LAUGHING DRAGON, and Dorothy wasn't even in that.

In the screenplay for the dreadful 1925 WIZARD film.

--David M.

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 5, 2001  12:28 am
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO Mooj

J. L. Bell:
>Which leads to some provocative alternative readings. One lies in Mooj's
>origin as "an old wise man from the north" [291]. Seebania dominated the
>southern part of Munchkinland. Perhaps Mooj was an agent from the Ozure
>Isles or another regional power (Kereteria or Wutz?) charged with taking
>control of Seebania.

Well, if he were from the Ozure Isles, it would explain where he got the
five thousand sacks of sapphires. Mooj's being an agent of the Wizard of
Wutz might make even more sense, although that would mean that Wutz was in
action LONG before Handy Mandy and Nox stumbled upon his secret mountain
laboratory, and before his other agents made any attempt to steal items like
the Magic Belt and Book of Records. One problem with this theory is that
Mooj has held onto Seebania for years by the beginning of OJO, and we see no
sign that any other rulers have attempted to annex it. Perhaps his employer
fears Ozma's power too much to try something like this? Or maybe Mooj's
mission was simply to neutralize Seebania's power, rather than to give it to
another ruler?

>That brings up a yet more disturbing possibility. Mooj seems to have kept
>Isomere comfortable in Seebania. She has an "apartment" [294], and we see
>her first dressed in "silvery satin" [287], not rags or a gardener's smock.
>She's weeping, but that's because after many years Mooj is about to
>transform or do away with her--though he never does. Has Isomere been loyal
>to Ree Alla Bad all that time? Or might she have reached an understanding
>with Seebania's new king?

While this might be a logical possibility in some ways, I seriously doubt
that Thompson had it in mind. Does infidelity even occur in Oz?

Nathan

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 5, 2001  12:35 am
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO comments

J. L. Bell:
>In discussing how characters seem to kill and eat animals happily in OJO, I
>neglected the Cowardly Lion's response to seeing the Dickey Bird alight
>nearby: "Mmm-m! Breakfast!" [153]

Speaking of Dickey Birds, it seems significant that they don't appear to be
sentient. The first one encountered by Dorothy's party relies on its sign
to communicate, while the ones in Dickus' cage simply mimic the phrase
"right-hand man." Could this be an indication that Thompson considered some
of the animals of Oz to be non-sentient? If it's only these "dumber"
animals who are eaten by humans, though, it doesn't explain why both
Snufferbux and Pajuka were potential dinners.

>I might be pronouncing Snoctorotomus wrong in my head. I've been seeing it
>as derived from "toro," or bull, and thus pronounced
>"snock-TORE-oh-TOE-mus." But Thompson may well have meant it to rhyme with
>hippopotamus: "SNOCK-tuh-ROT-uh-MUS."

For what it's worth, I always used the latter pronunciation.

Nathan

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 5, 2001  4:51 pm
Subject:  OJO and Munchkin geography

On p. 290, Realbad identifies Seebania as "an immense but little known tract
of forest land...bounded on the north by the Munchkin River and on the south
by the Quadling Country." On the IWOC map, Haff and Martin basically stick
to this description, but Seebania is not shown as bordering on the Quadling
Country, the forest where Grampa and Tatters encountered Vaga, the other
famous Munchkin bandit chief, being in between. Still, the location of
Seebania is pretty well defined.

How far did Unc Nunkie travel with the infant Ojo before reaching the house
where they lived at the beginning of PATCHWORK GIRL? Given the conflicting
references in PATCHWORK GIRL itself, this is somewhat confusing. The
mountain where Dr. Pipt lived, not far from Unc Nunkie's house, was
described as being on the Gillikin border, yet Ojo had mentioned earlier
that he could see the Hammer-Heads' mountain from the forest. Either one
could be a mistake on someone's part; Baum could have written "Gillikin"
when he intended to write "Quadling," or Ojo could have been mistaken about
the Hammer-Heads living on the mountain he could see. As it is, the TIK-TOK
maps place the house and forest in the southern Munchkin Country (although,
if I recall correctly, not all that close to the Hammer-Heads' territory),
while Haff and Martin placed them in the northern part of the blue quadrant
of Oz. Thompson was apparently working with the TIK-TOK map when she
decided on the location of Seebania, so perhaps she intended that Unc Nunkie
did not really travel very far before reaching the forest. On the other
hand, it seems as if Unc would have wanted to get as far from Seebanian
territory as possible, so that would actually support the idea of the Blue
Forest being on the other side of the country. Unc does say (p. 295), "I
made my way out of Seebania, traveling on and on until I came to the center
of an impenetrable forest." The indication seems to be that he traveled
some way from Seebania before stopping. (Note that Unc "found a little
house" in the forest, meaning that its original origins are still a
mystery.)

Further evidence for Ojo's house being in the north lies in the fact that,
while walking south, Ojo and his PATCHWORK GIRL companions pass the
Scarecrow, who is on his way to visit Jinjur. Jinjur lives in the northern
Munchkin Country, as evidenced by the fact that, in TIN WOODMAN, the heroes
come upon her house shortly after leaving the Gillikin Country. The
Scarecrow also plans to visit Jinjur while on the way south from the Ozure
Isles (in northern Munchkinland) in GIANT HORSE, although he never actually
reaches it. The only conflicting evidence for this is in OZMA, in which
Ozma's party visits Jinjur while on their way to the Emerald City via the
Yellow Brick Road. This could possibly be explained by saying that this is
the YBR that Ojo takes in PATCHWORK GIRL, rather than the one that Dorothy
uses in WIZARD. This is unlikely, however, since the Munchkins living near
the road recognize Dorothy, and there is a river that Ozma has to cross (an
obstacle that Ojo never came up against). Perhaps Jinjur moved off the
beaten path in between OZMA and PATCHWORK GIRL.

Getting back to OJO, we find Scraps wishing Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, and
herself into a blue forest. Why Scraps's wish took effect is a mystery,
but, if it did, it would have taken them to the same forest in which the
gypsies were camped, right? Haff and Martin show them as two different
forests, however. The forest in which Scraps and her companions find
themselves is apparently the one where Dorothy first found the Cowardly
Lion, making it slightly odd that he doesn't seem to recognize it
(especially after the comment in COWARDLY LION that he knows ALL the forests
in Oz). The forest in which the gypsies camped, however, is shown as a
small one to the north of that. I think the best solution would actually be
to expand the forest so that it includes both of these woods. This would
help to explain how, in HIDDEN PRINCE, Chief Thundercloud and his companions
are able to reach the forest where the Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion used to
live shortly after crossing the border from the Gillikin Country. There
also seems to have been a precedent for this kind of thing set when Eric
Shanower expanded the Quadling Forest for the WICKED WITCH map.

After leaving Crystal City, Ojo's party finds that a "forest edged the
rolling pasture to the west" (p. 125). Given that Thompson typically mixed
up east and west and this book, and the forest led to Tappy Town, which was
apparently closer to the Emerald City then Crystal City, shouldn't the
pasture be to the EAST?

Moojer Mountain seems to be quite close to the Emerald City, yet no one from
there seems to be aware of it, or of its namesake. It is, however, on the
bandits' map of Oz. If this is a version of Professor Wogglebug's map, that
suggests that HE knows of it, and, indeed, Haff and Martin place it fairly
close to his college. X. Pando, who lives there, calls it "Bear Mountain,"
and does not seem to be aware that his closest neighbor is a treacherous
magician and conqueror. (When I first read the book, I was thinking that
"Bear Mountain" might have been Snufferbux's original home, but there is no
indication of this.)

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Wed Dec 5, 2001  6:32 pm
Subject:  OJO missing old friends

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<While I basically agree with you, it could certainly be argued that the
GWN wasn't exactly a well-established character, since Baum only mentions
her twice (I think) after her somewhat major appearance in WIZARD. The
more annoying aspect to this transformation is that Thompson herself gives
the GWN a name, a home, two companions, and various magical items, and then
promptly discards most of them. There was definitely room for more
development than Thompson was willing to provide. As for the Scarecrow, he
decided NOT to be restored to his human body, so I wouldn't say ROYAL BOOK
ruined his character at all. The most annoying change for me was that of
Urtha being changed back into Princess Pretty Good. She not only gave up
her uniqueness, but also her fairy powers.>>

My criterion for a well-established character is one who's played an
important and visible role in at least one previous book. I put characters
who are transformed at the end of the book in which they first appear (Tip,
Urtha, et al.) in a different category because I assume the author had that
transformation in mind from the start. Overuse of that plot device might be
disappointing, hackneyed, or even a sign of prejudice against awkward
wooden dolls, but for me it doesn't have the same impact as changing a
character readers can come to know before they open the book.

I don't believe the revelations in ROYAL BOOK "ruined" the Scarecrow's
character, or even changed it in a notable way, but they did create a
history for him that a number of Oz fans dislike and some dismiss.

It's interesting what different reasons people give for disliking a major
character change and (in the case of some authors) bringing him or her
back. David Maxine seems to miss Ojo's pre-OJO ordinariness while you point
to how other characters lose their extraordinariness. Robin Olderman has
pointed out Thompson's tendency to turn old into young, unusual-appearing
into pretty. I tend to focus on personality and especially the potential
for internal conflict--in other words, I wouldn't mind Sir Hokus going off
to get married as long as he didn't have to become a contented young lug in
the process.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Thu Dec 6, 2001  11:56 am
Subject:  OJO Mooj

J.L.:
>We should note that Glinda's Great Book of Records refers to Mooj as "The
>King of Seebania...taking steps to secure his crown" [190], with no hint
>that he's not the legitimate ruler.

I think you're misreading that passage. Since it occurs right after
Ree Alla Bad has had his adventure in Tappy Town, I think"taking
steps" is supposed to be a sly reference to that adventure, which the
clever reader will pick up when All Is Revealed at the end. Probably
too sly, since you surely qualify as a clever reader, but still, I
think it's similar to the "Ruggedo has something on his mind" line in
the GBR in KABUMPO. Presumably the GBR knows who the legitimate ruler
of Seebania is, since it seems to be omniscient.

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Thu Dec 6, 2001  12:06 pm
Subject:  Pronunciation

J.L.:
>I might be pronouncing Snoctorotomus wrong in my head. I've been seeing it
>as derived from "toro," or bull, and thus pronounced
>"snock-TORE-oh-TOE-mus." But Thompson may well have meant it to rhyme with
>hippopotamus: "SNOCK-tuh-ROT-uh-MUS."

The latter is how I've always pronounced it. I think it matches with
the "combinoceros" in PURPLE PRINCE, which seems to derive from
"rhinoceros." It seems doubtful that Thompson was thinking of "toro";
she doesn't seem to have had much interest in things Spanish as far
as I recall. Her human kingdoms seem to be linguistically based more
on Arabic (probably as filtered through English translations of the
Thousand and One Nights) than anything else - see Mudge, Rash,
Samandra, Seebania, Jinnicky's realm, and probably others that don't
come to mind at the moment. I don't recall a one that seems to have
Spanish-based names, though I may be forgetting (and if so I'm sure
that you and/or Nathan will remind me).

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Thu Dec 6, 2001  12:15 pm
Subject:  Re: OJO vs. Ojo

David M.:
>Ojo was also Baum's strongest
>boy, IMHO. Also it seemed neat that adventures happened to an everyday male
>kid for once. (Button Bright is too weak and Tip is a girl).

I think Zeb was a stronger boy than Ojo by a good bit, and I consider
him the real juvenile lead in DOTWIZ; Dorothy is pretty much just
along for the ride in that book, with the Wizard and Zeb taking all
the initiatives. (And occasionally Eureka or Jim.) And although Woot
is less active than Ojo, he seems to be made of sterner stuff. I
frankly didn't care much for Ojo in PG when I read it as a kid, and
still don't. He's sneaky, selfish, and prone to panic and depression.
He's rather less so in OJO, though some of those traits still come
out, as J.L. has said.

From:  "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at m...>
Date:  Thu Dec 6, 2001  12:36 pm
Subject:  Ojo comments

I've been enjoying the discussion of "Ojo," although various time
constraints kept me from commenting before. Especially enjoyed J.L. Bell's
comments on RPT's extension of Ojo's character as established by Baum's
"Patchwork Girl," David Hulan's on why plot glitches, and Nathan deHoff's on
aspects of Oz history.

J.L. Bell commented on ways that "Ojo" reflects other plot set-ups RPT was
using, including "Pirates" theme of trying to be an outlaw.  "Ojo" in part
reverses the outlaw plot of "Pirates," in that Peter takes delightedly to
piracy, trying to encourage the reluctant Captain Salt to be more bloody,
bold, and resolute. (Well, more bold and resolute, anyway. He doesn't insist
on bloody.) Realbad is less bb&r than his band, but more so than Ojo can
accept, and the boy keeps trying to restrain the outlaw, unlike Peter/Salt.
Makes for a less amusing situation, but gives Realbad more internal conflict
to cope with, and so makes him -- not a more interesting character than the
Captain, but interesting in different ways. // On the Book of Records'
statement that the King of Seebania is "taking steps to secure his crown" --
so you think that refers to Mooj? Yes, I suppose that's the more likely. In
the past, I'd always thought it referred to Realbad's taking up with Ojo,
although Realbad doesn't know what consequences that act will have.

Nathan deHoff commented that Cheeriobed seems to be under enchantment and
cut off from the rest of Oz from before the time Ozma comes to the throne,
and that it's therefore odd that Ozma selected someone as King of the
Munchkins (appearing by title but without name in "Ozma" and "Road") who was
neither from Cheeriobed's powerful northern line nor from the powerful
Seebanian line. It's possible, as I've argued elsewhere, that there was a
time gap of a few years between the disappearance of Cheeriobed's father and
wife and the arrival of Quiberon cutting Cheeriobed off from the rest of Oz.
It seems likely to me that RPT was thinking of Cheeriobed as being the King
of the Munchkins who appears in the two earlier books (even though "Giant
Horse" does include one character's statement that the queen disappeared and
Quiberon arrived on the same day). Still, though, it would be possible
enough for Ozma to select a king who belonged to neither line, partly
because both lines were more or less in retreat and maybe partly because she
thought someone belonging to neither faction might have a better chance of
unifying the territory. (I don't suppose anyone wants to suggest that Mooj
was the King of the Munchkins Ozma selected?)

Ruth Berman

From:  Tigerbooks at a...
Date:  Thu Dec 6, 2001  10:43 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] Re: OJO vs. Ojo

davidhulan at ntsource.com writes:

I think Zeb was a stronger boy than Ojo by a good bit, and I consider
him the real juvenile lead in DOTWIZ;

Hmmm. I'm wondering if we have read different editions of DOT AND WIZ ? Zeb comes across
to me as a namby pamby hayseed that Dorothy has to tug all the way to safety.
While I am sure Zeb could beat Ojo up -- Zeb seem like he'll grow up to be a
red-neck thug. Perhaps he became one of the balding-potbellied middleaged
anti-union orchard owners in GRAPES OF WRATH : )

I frankly didn't care much for Ojo in PG when I read it as a kid, and
still don't. He's sneaky, selfish, and prone to panic and depression.
He's rather less so in OJO, though some of those traits still come
out, as J.L. has said.

Perhaps the discrepancy in our perceptions of Ojo has to do with sexual
preference? As a Gay kid I maybe I saw more of myself in Ojo than in Zeb?

Best, David M.  (who's still prone to panic and depression : )

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Fri Dec 7, 2001  9:59 am
Subject:  OJO Mooj

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Mooj has held onto Seebania for years by the beginning of OJO, and we see
no sign that any other rulers have attempted to annex it. Perhaps his
employer fears Ozma's power too much to try something like this? Or maybe
Mooj's mission was simply to neutralize Seebania's power, rather than to
give it to another ruler?>>

Yes, often in Machiavellian foreign policy it's better to contain a rival
power or leave it crippled than to openly take over the populace and all
the headaches that go with them. The Su-dic didn't care about the Skeezers
so long as Coo-ee-oh no longer threatened his rule. When the Sultan of
Samandra believed his neighbors might gang up on him, he wiped them out but
never seems to have expanded his own sultanate to cover the missing kings' territories.
Good point about Mooj having a ready source of sapphires if he
hailed from the area of Lake Orizon--whether or not he had ties to the
Cheeriobed dynasty.

<<Considering Ojo's age in PATCHWORK GIRL, it must not have been very long
between Ozma's ascension to the throne and Ojo's birth (which occurred
shortly after Mooj's conquest of Seebania). Does anyone have any timely
estimates for when these events might have taken place? Don't forget that
Unc Nunkie was friends with Dr. Pipt after his escape from Seebania (I'm
assuming that Pipt didn't know him when he was a Prince, although the
crooked magician is aware of Unc's royal blood), but before the magician
started stirring the kettles for his second batch of Powder of Life, which
took six years.>>

I'm not so sure that Dr. Pipt didn't know Unc Nunkie as Stephen, prince of
Seebania. In PATCHWORK GIRL Margolotte says, "Unc Nunkie and my husband
used to be friends, many years ago." That could have been seven or eight
years before (before the magician started stirring), but when older people
speak of friends that way, it usually implies a longer relationship. In
addition, Glinda in LOST PRINCESS states that Unc Nunkie has traveled
extensively in Munchkinland; PATCHWORK GIRL and the books that followed
don't show that, which hints that he moved around before he settled in the
forest with Ojo.

Both Dr. Pipt and Unc Nunkie were in hiding before PATCHWORK GIRL;
in fact, both may have been living under assumed names. That would make
them sympathetic to each other, as well as giving each leverage over the
other to keep his own secret. Dr. Pipt may not know all about the situation
in Seebania or who Ojo is (and he's not necessarily the type to care), but
he could well know who Unc Nunkie was and keep the secret.
In OJO Thompson says her title character is a "lad of ten" [30].
Ojo doesn't seem to have changed since PATCHWORK GIRL, which implies he's
ten or nearly so in that book. That indeed squeezes events in Oz into a
tight time frame.

Ozma couldn't have taken her throne later than 1904, LAND's
publication date, while Unc Nunkie's breadfruit tree couldn't have failed
later than 1913. The smallest possible span between those events is about
seven years--time for Dr. Pipt to realize Mombi's Powder of Perpetual Youth
is a fake and to stir his kettles. For the longest span, we can push LAND
earlier a coupla years, but not many given how Dorothy was aging at the
time. In the decade or so between the events in LAND and PATCHWORK GIRL--
1) Ojo's grandfather pulled back the borders of Seebania [290].
2) Mooj arrived from the north and "in due time" insinuated himself
into the king's favor [291].
3) The King of Seebania vanished on a hunting trip; Mooj declared
himself king, and the next day threw Prince Ree Alla Bad off a cliff
[292-3].
4) Isomere gave birth to Ojo, probably seven or eight months after
Ree Alla Bad's disappearance since he has no inkling of his wife's
condition; Unc Nunkie took the baby to the north of Munchkinland [294-5].
5) Ojo aged nine or ten years--which he must have done with almost
no pauses at all.

(In other time notes from OJO, when the book starts Crystal City has been
frozen for fifty years [115], and Snuffer chained up for five [64].)

<<it's slightly difficult to reconcile with what we know from GIANT HORSE.
By the time Ozma came to the throne, the former King of the Munchkins (the
northern Munchkins, most likely) had been enchanted (and possibly
destroyed) by Mombi, and the Wicked Witch of the East (whose domain
probably consisted mostly of the central Munchkin Country) had been crushed
by Dorothy's house. Hence, there wasn't really any strong ruler in the
Munchkin Country aside from the King of Seebania. There is, however, a
King of the Munchkins in OZMA and ROAD, but we don't know who this is.
Wouldn't it have made sense to give that position to the King of Seebania,
who would presumably have become the most important ruler in Munchkinland
by that time?>>

Was the King of Seebania truly strong when Ozma came to the throne? The
evidence to that effect consists only of the biased statement of Seebanian
royalty and Mooj's desire to control the land (though he spends little time
there). Seebania couldn't shield central Munchkinland from the Wicked Witch
of the East, and Mooj's takeover went unnoticed by Ozma and Glinda.
How's this scenario instead? Seebania was in decline before
Dorothy's arrival in Oz. While still prosperous within its borders, it had
lost the allegiance of neighboring kingdoms because it couldn't protect
them from the Wicked Witch. But her sudden death opened a power vacuum in
Munchkinland.

Seebania's Prince Stephen began to campaign for the rotating
Munchkin kingship, which had last rested with the missing monarch of the
Ozure Isles. The prince set out on a diplomatic tour to secure or renew his
friendship with powerful Munchkins, including Dr. Pipt. The King of
Seebania took on a new wise man from the north to advise him in his
brother's place while he continued to indulge his fondness for hunting.
But shortly thereafter, to everyone's surprise, Glinda swooped in
from the south to put young Ozma on the throne of the Emerald City.
Munchkins flocked to her cause, eschewing a king of their own. (I'm not
convinced by the brief and questionable mentions of Munchkin kings in OZMA
and ROAD.) Prince Stephen retired to Seebania, where the king drew back on
claiming his realm's old territory, both saying they did so out of
deference to Ozma. At some point, with no one watching Seebania anymore,
Mooj struck.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Fri Dec 7, 2001  5:30 pm
Subject:  OJO Mooj

David Hulan wrote:
<<>We should note that Glinda's Great Book of Records refers to Mooj as "The
>King of Seebania...taking steps to secure his crown" [190], with no hint
>that he's not the legitimate ruler.

Since it occurs right after Ree Alla Bad has had his adventure in Tappy
Town, I think"taking steps" is supposed to be a sly reference to that
adventure, which the clever reader will pick up when All Is Revealed at the
end.>>

Ruth Berman wrote:
<<On the Book of Records' statement that the King of Seebania is "taking
steps to secure his crown" -- so you think that refers to Mooj? Yes, I
suppose that's the more likely. In the past, I'd always thought it referred
to Realbad's taking up with Ojo, although Realbad doesn't know what
consequences that act will have.>>

I first thought the Great Book's notice might refer to Ree Alla Bad, too,
but I can't make that interpretation stick. I checked Ken Shepherd's
chronologies (in the Nonestica files on Yahoo) to be sure I'd read things
properly, and he too thinks that Ozma reaches Glinda's palace one day
BEFORE Realbad and Ojo enter Tappy Town. And the entry about the King of
Seebania seems to belong to the day before that, when Ojo was kidnapped, or
even earlier. Ozma has to turn a page to get to the present day [189-90].

On the other hand, Mooj has undoubtedly been taking steps to secure his
place as monarch of Seebania:
"Why have you offered a reward for the capture of Ojo, a harmless little Munchkin?"
"Because!...because he is the king's son and when he is safely out of the way I shall be Ruler of Seebania
forever and even longer." [277]

One curiosity about the episode in Glinda's palace is Unc Nunkie's lack of
response to the name Seebania. Surely he recognizes his home kingdom.
Whether he thinks of the "King of Seebania" as his brother, his nephew, or
Mooj, he must have some emotional response. And he's smart enough to put
that entry together with his great-nephew's disappearance.

We might see Unc Nunkie flirt with revealing his secret when he says Ojo is
"Not" an everyday boy [191], but he takes no other steps to tell Ozma about
Ojo's Seebanian connection. That would make sense if he's afraid that
revealing the secret would magically harm him or someone he loves (as in
LOST KING). But Unc Nunkie does nothing to keep himself and the Wizard's
search party away from Seebania, either.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Fri Dec 7, 2001  5:30 pm
Subject:  OJO infidelity

I can't think of examples from the Oz canon of unfaithful spouses, in the
sense of a husband or wife taking up with another person, but there are
examples of simple desertion. TIN WOODMAN revolves around a fiance who's
gone off to the city and left his betrothed behind. The plot of OZMA is set
in motion by a father deserting his wife and children, and the king of
Oogaboo has done the same less cruelly before TIK-TOK.

As Eric Shanower has said, it's unlikely that broken marriages in Oz would
have been reported to young readers. The integrity of the parental bond is
fundamental for children, and in a society with far less divorce than ours
(though perhaps a comparable amount of separation--see Trot's parents) the
Oz authors may have felt no need to discuss the fragility of marriage.

Getting back to Ree Alla Bad and Isomere, I have to wonder why he still has
both the rings from his christening. They protect their wearers, but warn
of danger only when they're separated. They thus seem tailored for a young
prince to give to his bride. Why hasn't Ree Alla Bad done so? Or perhaps he
did give Isomere one ring, but she gave it back.

It's also worthwhile to look at Ree Alla Bad's departure from Isomere's
point of view. That's hard since she never speaks, but we can at least
consider possibilities. When Mooj takes over Seebania, he cast a spell that
renders the populace (including her?) loyal to him as the new king. A
couple of days later Ree Alla Bad promises (publicly?) never to return to
his wife and then disappears. From Isomere's perspective, what her husband
later describes as leaving to save her life might well look like
desertion--and after getting her pregnant, yet!

According to Ree Alla Bad, Mooj first made him pledge not to return and
then pushed him off a cliff. Mooj seems to be a belts-and-suspenders type
of guy, taking two steps instead of one just to be careful. That fits with
his decision after many years of seemingly undisturbed rule to offer a
reward for Ojo--the action that ultimately leads to his downfall.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Fri Dec 7, 2001  11:14 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO and the Munchkin kingship

J. L. Bell:
>In addition, Glinda in LOST PRINCESS states that Unc Nunkie has traveled
>extensively in Munchkinland; PATCHWORK GIRL and the books that followed
>don't show that, which hints that he moved around before he settled in the
>forest with Ojo.

Early on in OJO, Unc Nunkie is remembering a visit he made to the King of
the White Mountains. No indication as given as to when this happened or
where the White Mountains are, but Haff and Martin place them in the
east-central Munchkin Country.

> In OJO Thompson says her title character is a "lad of ten" [30].
>Ojo doesn't seem to have changed since PATCHWORK GIRL, which implies he's
>ten or nearly so in that book. That indeed squeezes events in Oz into a
>tight time frame.
> Ozma couldn't have taken her throne later than 1904, LAND's
>publication date, while Unc Nunkie's breadfruit tree couldn't have failed
>later than 1913. The smallest possible span between those events is about
>seven years--time for Dr. Pipt to realize Mombi's Powder of Perpetual Youth
>is a fake and to stir his kettles. For the longest span, we can push LAND
>earlier a coupla years, but not many given how Dorothy was aging at the
>time.

In addition to the aging of Dorothy, Button-Bright should probably be
considered. He's quite young in ROAD, possibly four or five. I believe he
is mentioned in SCARECROW as being younger than Trot, who is ten according
to GIANT HORSE, so he's probably nine at the most in that book.

> How's this scenario instead? Seebania was in decline before
>Dorothy's arrival in Oz. While still prosperous within its borders, it had
>lost the allegiance of neighboring kingdoms because it couldn't protect
>them from the Wicked Witch. But her sudden death opened a power vacuum in
>Munchkinland.
> Seebania's Prince Stephen began to campaign for the rotating
>Munchkin kingship, which had last rested with the missing monarch of the
>Ozure Isles.

Actually, that brings up an interesting point. Before his father's
disappearance, Cheeriobed's official title was "Prince of the Ozure Isles."
There is no indication that his father lived there, however. In fact,
doesn't GIANT HORSE say that Cheeriobed was "sent word" that his father had
vanished? If they had been living in the same castle, there would have been
no need for this.

> But shortly thereafter, to everyone's surprise, Glinda swooped in
>from the south to put young Ozma on the throne of the Emerald City.
>Munchkins flocked to her cause, eschewing a king of their own. (I'm not
>convinced by the brief and questionable mentions of Munchkin kings in OZMA
>and ROAD.)

So do you think the mentions of such kings were mistakes on the part of the
Royal Historian, or references to someone (possibly Boq or another prominent
figure) who served as a figurehead in the absence of a strong central power?
(The Quadling and Gillikin rulers mentioned in these books were apparently
also figureheads, since Glinda and Tattypoo held the real power in these
territories.)

>Prince Stephen retired to Seebania, where the king drew back on
>claiming his realm's old territory, both saying they did so out of
>deference to Ozma. At some point, with no one watching Seebania anymore,
>Mooj struck.

Sounds like a good theory to me.

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Fri Dec 7, 2001  11:20 pm
Subject:  OJO gypsies, tramps, and thieves

Thompson begins her author's note for OJO by writing, "I have always longed
to travel off with gypsies, or live in the green forest with a band of
outlaws." But as we read on, she depicts those two groups very
differently.

From the beginning, Thompson sets the gypsies off by their physical
appearance, not just by what they wear or do. They are "swarthy-skinned,"
their children "bright-eyed" [20]. They speak in a "strange and unfamiliar
tongue" [29].

Thompson shows the gypsies going out of their way to be nasty to Ojo. Chief
Zithero calls him names and clips him on the ear for not working fast
enough [41, 44]. Even the children are "little rascals" who beat up the new
boy and steal everything of value from his pockets [30] (except, curiously,
"a bent fishing hook and a couple of marbles" [263]). For no apparent
reason, these "ragged little gypsies" make "awful faces" at Ojo and throw
"jeers and taunts" his way [42, 45].

Although Realbad and his 25 outlaws do the same thing as the gypsies--take
Ojo by force in order to sell him for Mooj's sapphires--Thompson portrays
them as jolly rogues. Both Noma and Realbad sing paeans to the vagabond
criminal life, but Thompson says the gypsy woman "croaked" her words,
"leering through the steam like a mischievous goblin" [44]; in contrast,
Realbad performs with "a good-natured grin,...slapping his sword gaily
against his boot" [51].

Realbad is, of course, exceptionally noble among the outlaws. Thompson's
comments hint at class prejudice: Ojo thinks he's "more distinguished than
the finest gentlemen at Ozma's court" because of "the way he stands"
[49-50]. He seems responsible for the outlaws' gentle treatment of their
captives. While the gypsy children and Zithero roughed up Ojo and Snuffer,
when the bandits arrive "The women and children were not molested" [51] and
"none of the [gypsies] had been injured" [48].

But even beyond Realbad, Thompson assigns the bandits appeal that the
gypsies never get. She struggles a bit with making their personalities
consistent. Smackemback "always seemed to be good-natured and jolly,"
according to page 76, but his cheer seems sarcastic on page 68. On page 52,
Thompson establishes the outlaw named Tiny as the dumb one: he
"stupidly...understood half of what he had heard." But it's Tiny who
recognizes that Realbad is "soft...with the boy" and unlikely to carry back
5,000 bags of sapphires [82]. Tiny has the heart to ask Snuffer, "Are you
kind to little fish and children"? [64], and he's a good editor:
"Begin at the middle and leave out all dates, all
favorite uncles and aunts, stone bruises, fish you
have caught, all pet turtles, guinea pigs, white
mice, puppies and don't bother about Christmas and
birthday presents!" [67]

("I wasn't going to!" Ojo protests.) Thompson needs villains beyond the
gypsies, but she can't make these bandits complete villains like the
mutinous pirates in PIRATES.

At the end of OJO, Ozma moves the bandits from "a distant mountain plateau"
to "a quiet valley near the Winkie River," having transformed them "into
simple Winkie farmers" [297]. For many people, this would be a reward, not
a punishment. In contrast, she banishes the gypsies from Oz altogether,
"sending them by her magic to wander through the countries of Southern
Europe" [293].

Thompson had no way of knowing that in a few years Hitler's regime would be
trying to exterminate the gypsies in Europe, including even their
"bright-eyed" children. But her portrayal of gypsies as innately nasty and
thieving, even worse than the worst bandits, was the same that spurred on
Third Reich policy.

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<Moojer Mountain seems to be quite close to the Emerald City, yet no one
from there seems to be aware of it, or of its namesake. It is, however, on
the bandits' map of Oz. If this is a version of Professor Wogglebug's map,
that suggests that HE knows of it, and, indeed, Haff and Martin place it
fairly close to his college. X. Pando, who lives there, calls it "Bear
Mountain," and does not seem to be aware that his closest neighbor is a
treacherous magician and conqueror.>>

My best explanation for this phenomenon is that Moojer Mountain is the name
used by outlaws and outcasts, those to whom Mooj would have distributed his
ransom offer, but not by mainstream Ozians. Prof. Wogglebug and X. Pando
would know that peak only as Bear Mountain. The outlaws' map, perhaps
dating from when wicked magicians plagued Oz, would have the
"underground"
names.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Fri Dec 7, 2001  11:27 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO infidelity

J. L. Bell:
>It's also worthwhile to look at Ree Alla Bad's departure from Isomere's
>point of view. That's hard since she never speaks, but we can at least
>consider possibilities. When Mooj takes over Seebania, he cast a spell that
>renders the populace (including her?) loyal to him as the new king. A
>couple of days later Ree Alla Bad promises (publicly?) never to return to
>his wife and then disappears.

We don't know that he ever made a public announcement of this sort. In
fact, from his own story, it sounds as if he and Mooj walked directly from
the dungeon to the ravine, without stopping to talk to anyone on the way.

>From Isomere's perspective, what her husband
>later describes as leaving to save her life might well look like
>desertion--and after getting her pregnant, yet!

Yes, or she could have thought he was dead (or destroyed; we don't know for
sure whether immortality had become commonplace in Oz by this point).

Nathan

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Sat Dec 8, 2001  2:03 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO gypsies, tramps, and thieves

>At the end of OJO, Ozma moves the bandits from "a distant mountain plateau"
>to "a quiet valley near the Winkie River," having transformed them "into
>simple Winkie farmers" [297]. For many people, this would be a reward, not
>a punishment.

It opens the question as to exactly how you could transform a bandit into a
farmer, and how she would make sure these farmers never made attempts to rob
anyone. Also note that Ozma has to locate the bandits before she can
transform and transport them, possibly hinting at a limitation of the Magic
Belt's power. If this limitation were not in place, Ozma could presumably
have just transported Ojo back to the Emerald City, without bothering to
find out where he was, but such was not the case. It would be interesting
to compare this to other reports of magic using the Belt, but I don't have
the time right now.

>In contrast, she banishes the gypsies from Oz altogether,
>"sending them by her magic to wander through the countries of Southern
>Europe" [293].
>
>Thompson had no way of knowing that in a few years Hitler's regime would be
>trying to exterminate the gypsies in Europe, including even their
>"bright-eyed" children. But her portrayal of gypsies as innately nasty and
>thieving, even worse than the worst bandits, was the same that spurred on
>Third Reich policy.

Quite true. Isn't this the first time Ozma has deported anyone from Oz? I
guess you could count Ruggedo, who, at the end of KABUMPO, was revoked of
the Oz citizenship that he gained in MAGIC, and banished to Runaway Island.
The former Nome King apparently caused much more trouble than the gypsies
did, though. Incidentally, in FORBIDDEN FOUNTAIN, Toby tells us that his
father and uncles were transported to an island in the Nonestic Ocean by
Tattypoo, so other Ozian rulers must have used deportation from Oz as a
punishment, and in a less potentially racist manner.

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Sat Dec 8, 2001  3:35 pm
Subject:  les boys

David Maxine wrote:
<<Zeb comes across to me as a namby pamby hayseed that Dorothy has to tug
all the way to safety. While I am sure Zeb could beat Ojo up -- Zeb seem
like he'll grow up to be a red-neck thug. Perhaps he became one of the
balding-potbellied middleaged anti-union orchard owners in GRAPES OF
WRATH>>

I agree there's definitely something Steinbeckian about Zeb, but I start
with THE RED PONY and OF MICE AND MEN's picture of those California
ranches. I don't see him as "namby-pamby," but he's clearly out of his
depth and (unlike our adventurous Dorothy) doesn't enjoy that feeling. When
assigned an important task (e.g., do the following things to prepare our
escape), Zeb performs very well. But he's usually so overwhelmed by the
magic he's witnessing that he makes few plans on his own. That's where
Dorothy's contribution comes in. Though in this book's action she's usually
in the background, she and the Wizard provide the spirit and drive to get
the party through.

I'm trying to think if I had any particular favorites among Baum's young
heroes, and what if anything that might say about my personality,
sexuality, life situation, or preference in clothing. I don't recall
preferring one boy over another the way I liked Trot a little bit better
among the girls. I guess I'll say only that Woot has been unduly neglected.


J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Sat Dec 8, 2001  4:47 pm
Subject:  OJO Mooj

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<>When Mooj takes over Seebania, he cast a spell that
>renders the populace (including her?) loyal to him as the new king. A
>couple of days later Ree Alla Bad promises (publicly?) never to return to
>his wife and then disappears.

We don't know that he ever made a public announcement of this sort. In
fact, from his own story, it sounds as if he and Mooj walked directly from
the dungeon to the ravine, without stopping to talk to anyone on the
way.>>

Yes, that's Ree Alla Bad's story, but he'd have a good reason not to
recount such a painful moment as renouncing his wife, especially when
speaking in front of her and their child.

The slight evidence for such a public event lies in Mooj's insistence on
making the prince "promise" not to return to Seebania [292]. Why did the
new king need that promise? Mooj already had the Seebanians' loyalty and
the power to punish Ree Alla Bad if he returned. The promise may thus have
been meant for someone else to hear.

Note that if Isomere had been wearing one of Ree Alla Bad's protective
rings, the prince would have known that Mooj couldn't harm her. That rules
out the scenario that Ree Alla Bad reluctantly told his new bride that he
was leaving her forever and Isomere responded by throwing back his ring.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Sat Dec 8, 2001  4:47 pm
Subject:  regional monarchs

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<So do you think the mentions of such kings were mistakes on the part of
the Royal Historian, or references to someone (possibly Boq or another
prominent figure) who served as a figurehead in the absence of a strong
central power? (The Quadling and Gillikin rulers mentioned in these books
were apparently also figureheads, since Glinda and Tattypoo held the real
power in these territories.)>>

The passage in OZMA:
They began the trip across the desert early in
the morning, and as they stopped only long enough
for Billina to lay her daily egg, before sunset
they espied the green slopes and wooded hills of
the beautiful Land of Oz. They entered it in the
Munchkin territory, and the King of the Munchkins
met them at the border and welcomed Ozma with
great respect, being very pleased by her safe
return. For Ozma of Oz ruled the King of the
Munchkins, the King of the Winkies, the King of
the Quadlings and the King of the Gillikins just
as those kings ruled their own people; and this
supreme ruler of the Land of Oz lived in a great
town of her own, called the Emerald City, which
was in the exact center of the four kingdoms of
the Land of Oz.

The Munchkin king entertained them at his
palace that night, and in the morning they set
out for the Emerald City, travelling over a road
of yellow brick that led straight to the jewel-
studded gates.

And the sentences in ROAD:
Then came the Rulers of the four Kingdoms of Oz:
the Emperor of the Winkies, the Monarch of the
Munchkins, the King of the Quadlings and the
Sovereign of the Gillikins, each wearing a long
chain of emeralds around his neck to show that
he was a vassal of the Ruler of the Emerald City.  ...
The Woggle-Bug and Jack Pumpkinhead were next,
and behind them Glinda the Sorceress and the
Good Witch of the North.

I see reasons to doubt these passages' implication that there are monarchs
of any meaningful power and permanence over the Munchkin and Gillikin
territories while Baum was reporting on Oz.

Problem #1: Every Oz book includes a description of the four main
quadrants of Oz and Ozian celebrities, yet there's no other mention of
these rulers. We never learn their names, histories, or personalities.
Their homes don't appear on the TIK-TOK map. If they vanish before GIANT
HORSE, they do so without Ozma or Glinda ever showing any notice or
interest. The equivalent passages in Thompson's books after GIANT HORSE are
quite different. This is negative evidence, but significant.

#2: The TIK-TOK map and all subsequent books put Ev across the
Deadly Desert from the Winkie Country, not the Munchkins.

#3: As you note, the mentions of a "King of the Quadlings" directly
contradict the many passages which show that Glinda rules the South. A
"King/Sovereign of the Gillikins" also bumps up against what we're told
about the Good Witch of the North. Those unreliable details in turn cast
doubt on the same passages' mention of a "King/Monarch of the
Munchkins."

I think the simplest way to solve these problems is that Baum was mistaken
on two points.

First, Ozma's army in OZMA returned through the Winkie Country and
stayed at the Tin Woodman's castle. Having learned of Dorothy's meeting
with Jinjur, Baum wrongly assumed that was on the same trip. In that case,
the army would have passed through Munchkinland. Whose castle would they
haved stayed at? Well, the king's. And wouldn't that king have welcomed his
sovereign at the border? And if the Munchkins had a king, wouldn't the
other peoples of Oz have one, too? (Baum did love his symmetry.)
Second, the people who represented the four quadrants of Oz in
Ozma's birthday parade weren't all rulers of those regions. Nick Chopper
was, but we can be sure the "King of the Quadlings" wasn't. With his
interest in pomp and symmetry, Baum assumed otherwise. I don't think the
Munchkin, Quadling, and Gillikin representatives necessarily even had
permanent positions, given how the rest of the books don't mention them at
all.

Of course, other readers have preferred other explanations. Ruth Berman's
"Rulers.txt" article in the Nonestica files proposes another arrangement,
for instance. My main objection to such theories is that I can't imagine
Ozma appointing regional rulers early in her reign and then evidently not
caring about their disappearance before GIANT HORSE--not unless there's a
lot more turmoil going on in Oz than she's allowed the royal historians to
report. And if she's managing the news and covering up events to that
extent, a great deal of what we consider Ozian history is
suspect--including but also going well beyond the two passages quoted
above.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at m...>
Date:  Mon Dec 10, 2001  1:07 pm
Subject:  ojo & banquets & canons in oz

J. L. Bell commented on David Hulan's:
> > Since [Great Book of Records' reference to the King's steps to secure
his crown] occurs right after Ree Alla Bad has had his adventure in Tappy
Town, I think"taking steps" is supposed to be a sly reference to that
adventure, which the clever reader will pick up when All Is Revealed at the
end.>>
> I first thought the Great Book's notice might refer to Ree Alla Bad, too,
but I can't make that interpretation stick. I checked Ken Shepherd's
chronologies (in the Nonestica files on Yahoo) to be sure I'd read things
properly, and he too thinks that Ozma reaches Glinda's palace one day
BEFORE Realbad and Ojo enter Tappy Town. And the entry about the King of
Seebania seems to belong to the day before that, when Ojo was kidnapped, or
even earlier. Ozma has to turn a page to get to the present day [189-90].
<

The pun on taking steps sounds as if RPT might have lost track of the
chronology between the two plot-lines at that point. But would the
connection really be the first day Ojo was kidnapped or earlier? It wouldn't
need to be as far along as Tappy Town -- if the Record Book's reference was
made when Realbad found Ojo in the gypsy camp and gave him the ring, that
would also be a step (although not consciously intended as such) towards
getting the crown back. // On why the second ring was not given to
Isomere -- possibly she had some kind of magical protection of her own not
reported in the story?

Nathan DeHoff: wrote
> Before his father's disappearance, Cheeriobed's official title was "Prince
of the Ozure Isles." There is no indication that his father lived there,
however. In fact, doesn't GIANT HORSE say that Cheeriobed was "sent word"
that his father had vanished? If they had been living in the same castle,
there would have been no need for this. <

Interesting thought. If his father lived elsewhere, would it work to suppose
that the two lines of Munchkin kings are really the same, and Cheeriobed and
Ree Alla Bad are either brothers or uncle/nephew? // You may be right in
suggesting that "Alberif" is modeled on Berman "Alberich" rather than an
Arabic al-something. Incidentally, alberich means elf-ruler, and led not
only to the character of the dwarf Alberich in Wagner's Ring Cycle, but to
the French dwarf-sized elf-king Oberon on the French story of "Huon of
Bordeaux" and so to Shakespeare's Oberon. // How magic transforms Munchkin
outlaws into Winkie farmers -- maybe not so much by doing anything to them
as by just transferring them to the territory, clearing it, and providing
supplies to get them going on it. They might by then be worried enough about
getting severer punishment to try putting up with becoming farmers instead
of just turning themselves into Winkie outlaws.

Ruth Berman

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Mon Dec 10, 2001  8:49 pm
Subject:  regional monarchs

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<at the time of WIZARD, the Quadlings' territory seems to include only
land south of the Hammer-Heads' mountains. By EMERALD CITY, at least, the
entire southern quadrant is known as the Quadling Country. (Dorothy
mentions travelling "straight ahead into the Quadling Country" from the
Emerald City). Perhaps the King of the Quadlings ruled the rest of we know
as the Quadling Country, but later resigned and turned the territory over
to Glinda. I don't know whether this theory really works, though; it could
simply be the ignorance of Dorothy and her friends that leads them to think
that "the Quadling Country" does not begin until after the Hammer-Heads'
territory.>>

That explanation for the "King of the Quadlings" would mean that he was
actually "king of everything in the south but the Quadlings," making his
title quite a contradiction.

I think that despite WIZARD's color scheme Quadlingland always included the
"brown" space south of the Emerald City. As with Ozma and the Forest of
Gugu, Glinda didn't necessarily control every bit of the territory she
claimed. And there were advantages to her at that time in leaving a stretch
of little populated wilderness to keep her neighbors away.

Baum moved out to South Dakota before the US officially "closed" its
frontier, and came to fear the "lawless" peoples living there.  Yet he'd
never have said that the Dakotas didn't belong to the US. Northern
Quadlingland might have been the equivalent of a lightly settled territory
in Glinda's realm.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  10:51 am
Subject:  OJO magic

Nathan DeHoff wrote about the end of OJO:
<<It opens the question as to exactly how you could transform a bandit into
a farmer, and how she would make sure these farmers never made attempts to
rob anyone. Also note that Ozma has to locate the bandits before she can
transform and transport them, possibly hinting at a limitation of the Magic
Belt's power. If this limitation were not in place, Ozma could presumably
have just transported Ojo back to the Emerald City, without bothering to
find out where he was, but such was not the case. It would be interesting
to compare this to other reports of magic using the Belt, but I don't have
the time right now.>>

The use and non-use of the Magic Belt in OJO (actually the other way
around) is very curious indeed. In the brief "second act" of the novel--the
chapters between Ojo's first escape from Realbad and their reunion over the
head of the Snoctorotomus--Thompson has Ozma deploy nearly all the heavy
weaponry at her disposal: the Magic Picture, the Great Book of Records, the
Wizard's wishing pills, even the Red Jinn's dinner bell [144]. But she
never simply wishes Ojo home with the Magic Belt. If locating Ojo is the
hold-up, that hasn't been a problem before--such as when Ozma brought
Dorothy in from the cavern in DOROTHY & WIZARD.

Of course, using the Magic Belt would destroy the tension in the novel and
prevent Ojo and Realbad from meeting, much less bonding. Thompson doesn't
even try to provide an excuse; she just hurries us on toward Dorothy's
search party. ("Pay no attention to the belt around that woman!") She also
breathlessly informs us that the Wizard is still working on his searchlight
[137] even though it seems to have worked fine in YELLOW KNIGHT. But maybe
that speedy approach is more effective than it would have been to pause for
a lame excuse about why the Belt couldn't rescue Ojo right away.

In Shamsbad, all of a sudden, Ozma discovers what she's wearing. Boom! Mooj
is a sparrow (and seemingly a non-talking, non-magical one, unlike Ugu in
LOST PRINCESS). Boom! Dorothy, Scraps, and the Cowardly Lion are back
[288]. Boom! Mooj is a drop of water. Boom! The bandits are
farmers--whether that's a personality change or reeducation or simply a
land grant is unclear [297]. Boom! The gypsies are rolling around southern
Europe. Boom! The Seebanians are loyal to Ree Alla Bad (again?) [298].
Boom! Everyone's lounging in the bandits' cave [302], and Boom! the Emerald
City folk go home [303]. It's as if Ozma's just gotten the Belt as a
birthday gift and is eager to find out what it can do.

David Hulan wrote:
<<letting Scraps' wish take effect when it's Dorothy who swallowed the pill
doesn't seem to make a lot of sense - how close does someone have to be
when another person takes a wishing pill to override the wish? In contact?
Within five feet? In the same room? Within earshot? Who knows?>>

This was another of OJO's novel details about old magic. I think Thompson
meant to imply Scraps's wish took hold because she was so close to Dorothy
when she burst out, but that's neither explicit nor unmistakably hinted at.
In fact, we never actually see when Dorothy swallows the wishing pill;
perhaps there's an instant when it's vulnerable to wishes from other people
and, by an outlandish coincidence, Scraps happens to have her mouth open
then. (Well, her mouth being open then isn't outlandish; speaking a
coherent wish at that time is.)

Though Dorothy's party starts off so suddenly she drops her basket of magic
tools, their trip is gradual instead of instantaneous. It takes "exactly
forty-nine seconds" for Dorothy and her companions to travel from the
Emerald City to the forest [142]. As with the Magic Belt in YELLOW KNIGHT
and PURPLE PRINCE, Thompson shows the old magical tools working much more
slowly than they have in the past.

Another example of magic responding to a companion of the person who
originally called it up is when Opodock takes an order from Snufferbux
[84]. If that's how the big bird operates, then any of the bandits could
have said, "Blow me and the boy to Moojer Mountain and leave all these saps
behind!" What would Opodock have done if everyone started yelling at once?
("Who calls Opodock?" "Oh, I did, I do!" "No, me!" "No, I did!" "Over here,
big guy!" "Yo! Silverhead!") And what happens to that silver whistle? Ojo
thinks he lost it in the cave [89]. Later the family goes back to the cave
for an evening. Is it still there to be found? Or did the bird snatch it up
and fly away, free of obligations?

Eventually we learn about one new piece of magic from the Wizard: he has
everyone take "flying pills" to follow the searchlight [284]. (I find
something vaguely cultish about his shouting, "We must follow the light!"
[282]) Do we ever see these flying pills again? If he had them in his
armamentarium, why invent Ozoplanes?

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  11:42 am
Subject:  Ojo in PG

David M.:
> > I frankly didn't care much for Ojo in PG when I read it as a kid, and
>> still don't. He's sneaky, selfish, and prone to panic and depression.
>> He's rather less so in OJO, though some of those traits still come
>> out, as J.L. has said.
>>
>
>Perhaps the discrepancy in our perceptions of Ojo has to do with sexual
>preference? As a Gay kid I maybe I saw more of myself in Ojo than in Zeb?

Could be, I suppose; that's the sort of thing that presumably is
impossible to determine, since one is either gay or not, and can't
really know whether that fact is influencing one's opinion about
something else.

On the other hand, I was certainly a wimpy boy, more like Ojo than
like, say, Speedy or Randy or Peter. But that was an aspect of myself
that I didn't like, rather than one I took pride in, so I didn't
particularly care for reading about a boy protagonist in whom I saw
that aspect of myself. And those aspects of myself that I did take
pride in - like intelligence and ability to get along with adults on
a more equal basis than most of my friends - weren't there in Ojo.
Speedy was definitely the boy protagonist that I liked the most, with
Randy a not-too-distant second, and Bucky a close third; the others
(Zeb, Woot, Ojo, Bob Up, Tatters, Reddy, Snip, Peter, Tom) weren't
all that appealing, for various reasons. (I would almost certainly
have liked Number Nine if I'd read WONDER CITY or SCALAWAGONS as a
kid, but I didn't. His role in LUCKY BUCKY was limited enough that I
didn't form that much of an opinion about him from that book. And I
was well into my teens when HIDDEN VALLEY came out and an adult by
the time of MERRY-GO-ROUND, so I couldn't have had an opinion on Jam
or Robin or...dang, I'm drying on the name of the squire in MGR -
Fess?)

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  11:52 am
Subject:  Who's Taking Steps?

J.L.:
I can grant your chronology, meaning that maybe "taking steps" didn't
refer to the Tappy Town adventure (though I still think it was
intended to...and on rechecking I find that that adventure comes a
chapter or two after the reference in the GBR rather than before it),
but I still think the reference is to Realbad and not to Mooj. After
all, even Mooj, in your own quote, says:

"Because!...because he is the king's son and when
he is safely out of the way I shall be Ruler of Seebania
forever and even longer." [277]

Meaning that he acknowledges that as of the time he put out the
reward for Ojo, Ree Alla Bad is still the king of Seebania, even if
he's exiled and Mooj is exercising the royal power. Which means to me
that when the GBR refers to "the king of Seebania," it means
Realbad
and not Mooj.

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  12:15 pm
Subject:  Chronology

J.L.:
> In OJO Thompson says her title character is a "lad of ten" [30].
>Ojo doesn't seem to have changed since PATCHWORK GIRL, which implies he's
>ten or nearly so in that book. That indeed squeezes events in Oz into a
>tight time frame.
> Ozma couldn't have taken her throne later than 1904, LAND's
>publication date, while Unc Nunkie's breadfruit tree couldn't have failed
>later than 1913. The smallest possible span between those events is about
>seven years--time for Dr. Pipt to realize Mombi's Powder of Perpetual Youth
>is a fake and to stir his kettles. For the longest span, we can push LAND
>earlier a coupla years, but not many given how Dorothy was aging at the
>time. In the decade or so between the events in LAND and PATCHWORK GIRL--
> 1) Ojo's grandfather pulled back the borders of Seebania [290].
> 2) Mooj arrived from the north and "in due time" insinuated himself
>into the king's favor [291].
> 3) The King of Seebania vanished on a hunting trip; Mooj declared
>himself king, and the next day threw Prince Ree Alla Bad off a cliff
>[292-3].
> 4) Isomere gave birth to Ojo, probably seven or eight months after
>Ree Alla Bad's disappearance since he has no inkling of his wife's
>condition; Unc Nunkie took the baby to the north of Munchkinland [294-5].
> 5) Ojo aged nine or ten years--which he must have done with almost
>no pauses at all.

I've argued my Ozian chronology a good many times in the past, but I
can do it again. I assign books the dates of:

Wizard - 1899
Land - early 1900
Ozma - Fall 1902
DotWiz - May-June 1903
Road - August 1903
EC - October 1903
PG - 1910
Tik-Tok - later 1910
Scarecrow - 1911

This pretty well solves any aging problems. It lets Dorothy be 11
when she moves permanently to Oz and stops aging, yet she can be 7 in
WIZARD, which is about as young as is plausible given her skill at
reading and other personality traits in that book. Ojo can be born in
1901, which would make him 9 in PG; it's not unreasonable that he
might have let himself age a year between then and OJO. The tricky
bit is Button-Bright, who was probably 3 in ROAD (I know Baum said he
looked two or three years younger than Dorothy, but he doesn't act or
talk like it, and while one may argue whether he's bright or just
average in intelligence in the later books, he doesn't seem retarded
enough that he wouldn't be able to speak in complete sentences when
he's five or six years old). If he didn't come to Oz until 1911 it
would seem that he'd have to be 11 at that time, and yet he's
supposed to look younger than Trot, who's 10. But we know he'd flown
to Nonestica with his magic umbrella some time before he met up with
Trot and Cap'n Bill in SCARECROW - maybe as much as a couple of years
earlier, since he doesn't seem to have much of a time sense. While
aging in the rest of Nonestica (except Mo) doesn't seem to stop as it
can in Oz, it doesn't seem to proceed at the rate it does in America
either, so he could easily still be physically 9 after he'd lived 11
years.

And it's plausible that Ojo would have aged continuously from birth
to the time of PG; remember that Unc Nunkie resisted their leaving
the hut in the forest because he thought Ojo was "too little." If
that was his attitude, I'm sure Ojo would have had every incentive to
grow as fast as he could while they lived there.

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  12:58 pm
Subject:  OJO Mooj

Ruth Berman wrote:
<<The pun on taking steps sounds as if RPT might have lost track of the
chronology between the two plot-lines at that point. But would the
connection really be the first day Ojo was kidnapped or earlier? It
wouldn't need to be as far along as Tappy Town -- if the Record Book's
reference was made when Realbad found Ojo in the gypsy camp and gave him
the ring, that would also be a step (although not consciously intended as
such) towards getting the crown back.>>

The Great Book of Records reads, "The King of Seebania is taking steps to
secure his crown." I just can't interpret "taking steps to" as a synonym
for "stumbling blindly toward," nor "king of Seebania" for "deposed prince
of Seebania whose father has disappeared," nor "secure" for "gain."

When Ozma is reading in Glinda's book, Thompson is explicit on timing in
regard to Ojo's kidnapping: "Turning back the pages to the day before.  . .
'Anything on to-day's page, Unc?'" Realbad doesn't even meet Ojo until the
day after the Book's entry. And for "taking steps" to be a pun about Tappy
Town, Thompson would also have had to be anticipating an episode two
chapters further on, which wasn't her carefree plotting style.

OJO says that Mooj was accepted by the Seebanians as their king until Ozma
worked magic on their loyalties. It's also clear that Mooj sets the book's
plot in motion by "taking steps to secure his crown." Not only was Realbad
not trying to gain the crown of Seebania, but he was actually taking steps
to avoid that kingdom and Mooj. As clever as Thompson often was, I don't
think she meant this Great Book of Records entry to have anything to do
with Realbad.

Incidentally, I earlier wrote about Mooj being a belt-and-suspenders guy,
taking the extra step to be careful. His speech pattern might bear that
out. He tells Realbad, "I shall be Ruler of Seebania forever and even
longer" [277], and that Isomere "shall vanish and disappear" [279]. Not
just vanish, not just disappear--vanish AND disappear.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at m...>
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  2:08 pm
Subject:  ojo and baumishness in oz

J.L. Bell: Another thought on possible explanations for Ree's failure to
give one of his pair of twinned magic rings to Isomere -- maybe they had
been stored away somewhere for fear of loss if worn at all times, in the
hope that the danger of failing to get at them fast enough in time of threat
was less than the danger of losing them if worn at all times (or of having
them stolen by a worried bear). A situation similar to the Pearls in
"Rinkitink." In that cast, Ree might have managed to get the pair out but
didn't manage to smuggle one to Isomere.

Ruth Berman

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  2:54 pm
Subject:  Uniqueness of OJO

It occurred to me last night that OJO is unique in one way - it's the
only post-Baum Oz book that takes place entirely inside Oz, if you
consider the border of Oz is where the habitable country meets the
Deadly Desert. (If you consider the desert also a part of Oz, then
SCALAWAGONS might arguably qualify; it's not clear whether the
Mifkits live on the other side of the desert or in a marginally
habitable area within it.) Baum had four books take place entirely
within Oz (PATCHWORK GIRL, LOST PRINCESS, TIN WOODMAN, and GLINDA),
but his successors almost always had at least a short episode taking
place outside Oz itself.

Conversely, only one book in the whole FF takes place entirely
outside of Oz, that being CAPTAIN SALT.

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 12, 2001  8:30 am
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] ojo in oz

Ruth:
>Nathan DeHoff: wrote
> > Before his father's disappearance, Cheeriobed's official title was
>"Prince
>of the Ozure Isles." There is no indication that his father lived there,
>however. In fact, doesn't GIANT HORSE say that Cheeriobed was "sent word"
>that his father had vanished? If they had been living in the same castle,
>there would have been no need for this. <
>
>Interesting thought. If his father lived elsewhere, would it work to
>suppose
>that the two lines of Munchkin kings are really the same, and Cheeriobed
>and
>Ree Alla Bad are either brothers or uncle/nephew?

Perhaps, but that wasn't really what I was thinking. After all, it wouldn't
make that much sense for this Munchkin King to have two heirs. I just think
that one king was in Seebania, and the other in a location near the Ozure
Isles, but probably not actually on those isles.

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Wed Dec 12, 2001  4:20 pm
Subject:  OJO Ojo

David Hulan wrote:
<<David M.:
>Perhaps the discrepancy in our perceptions of Ojo has to do with sexual
>preference? As a Gay kid I maybe I saw more of myself in Ojo than in
Zeb?

Could be, I suppose; that's the sort of thing that presumably is impossible
to determine, since one is either gay or not, and can't really know whether
that fact is influencing one's opinion about something else.  ...
Speedy was definitely the boy protagonist that I liked the most>>

As I recall, Gore Vidal also identified most with Speedy, which casts some
doubt on the growing-up-gay theory. (One reason for Vidal's preference was
his family's ties to the celebrity aviators of the 1920s and '30s.)

David Maxine, you wrote movingly in the latest BUGLE about getting through
your parents' divorce. I don't know how that fits in time with your
affinity for Ojo, but among Baum's boy travelers Ojo's the only one who's
lost his home and family. The others are separated from their homes, but
Tip doesn't have a family; Button-Bright, Woot, and Kiki Aru don't much
care about theirs; and Zeb knows his home and uncle are still waiting for
him in California if he can get back. Ojo manages to persevere through his
quest to restore his little home (and in a friendlier place yet). He
expresses a lot of emotion along the way, but he has reason to be
emotional.

Another point of view on reader affinities comes from the recent Newbery
Medal-winner Richard Peck. He says that kids don't want to read about
people like them; they want to read about people they'd like to be. Like a
lot of Peck's pronouncements, I think that maxim contains good insight but
doesn't apply to every case.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Wed Dec 12, 2001  4:20 pm
Subject:  OJO Mooj

David Hulan wrote:
<<even Mooj, in your own quote, says:

"Because!...because he is the king's son and when
he is safely out of the way I shall be Ruler of Seebania
forever and even longer." [277]

Meaning that he acknowledges that as of the time he put out the reward for
Ojo, Ree Alla Bad is still the king of Seebania, even if he's exiled and
Mooj is exercising the royal power. Which means to me that when the GBR
refers to "the king of Seebania," it means Realbad and not
Mooj.>>

In the chapter when Mooj and Realbad meet, appropriately titled "The King
of Seebania," both characters privately acknowledge the prince's claim. In
response to Mooj's statement above, Realbad replies, "The King of Seebania
has no son," which makes no sense if he's talking about his own father
[279]. In addition, Unc Nunkie later refers to Isomere as "the queen"
[294-5].

On the other hand, Realbad states Mooj "proclaimed himself sole sovereign
of all Seebania," and he wears the royal crown when he's in Shamsbad [287].
Ozma doesn't acknowledge Ree Alla Bad as king of Seebania until page 298.
And most important, Mooj "secured [that word again] by his magic spells the
loyalty and support of all the Seebanians" [292]. The loyalty of the
Seebanians would be decisive in Baum's Oz, where people usually get to
choose their own rulers, but less so in Thompson's, where monarchical
authority is hereditary or granted from above.

That leaves the situation ambiguous--there are rival claimants to the
throne of Seebania. (There'd have to be, or we wouldn't have a book.) But
which of those claimants is "taking steps to secure his crown" in the
period covered by the Great Book of Records [190]? Mooj definitely is.
Realbad definitely isn't; he's still trying to avoid Seebania and repress
that part of his life.

Had the Book of Records stated, "The King of Seebania is nearer his
throne," "The King of Seebania has seen his son for the first time," or
even "The King of Seebania is about to sell his son to an evil magician,"
and linked that to the morning when Realbad and Ojo met, not the day
before, that would have been an unmistakable pointer to them. (Looking
back, I'd have written the Book episode with Unc Nunkie reading such a line
and turning pale, but refusing to speak about it.) But if Thompson meant
the Book entry she wrote to refer slyly to Realbad, she was even more
careless about details than usual; she actually put in details that point
in another direction.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 12, 2001  5:21 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO magic

J. L. Bell:
>She also
>breathlessly informs us that the Wizard is still working on his searchlight
>[137] even though it seems to have worked fine in YELLOW KNIGHT.

Maybe it had some technical problems, but this is never stated in the book.
I read OJO before YELLOW KNIGHT, and, when I got to the latter book, I was
surprised the find the Searchlight in it. It seems to work differently,
though; YELLOW KNIGHT says that it simply tells the location of someone or
something (in Morse Code, perhaps?), while, in OJO, it's something that can
be followed. Perhaps it is this additional feature that the Wizard is
adding on p. 137.

>Eventually we learn about one new piece of magic from the Wizard: he has
>everyone take "flying pills" to follow the searchlight [284].  (I find
>something vaguely cultish about his shouting, "We must follow the light!"
>[282])

It is never totally clear whether the Flying Pills actually dragged the
characters toward the light, or they had to follow it themselves. There is
no indication that they have to flap their arms like wings or anything,
however.

>Do we ever see these flying pills again? If he had them in his
>armamentarium, why invent Ozoplanes?

I don't believe we see them again, but I'm guessing that the Ozoplanes can
withstand higher altitudes, in addition to being able to transport more
passengers and cargo.

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Wed Dec 12, 2001  9:09 pm
Subject:  OJO little communities

Like most, if not all, Thompson books, OJO contains its share of those
little communities that adventurers in Oz have to kick their way through.
But in this book those episodes seem more closely related to the main
action than in most other books. Crystal City [There's a DC Metro stop of
the same name, isn't there?] reveals the power of Realbad's ring.
Dicksyland, Unicorners, and X. Pando all provide different characters with
a lift up Moojer Mountain. The Rolling Road moves Dorothy and her party
further away from Ojo, and the Snoctorotomus brings Realbad closer to him.
Tappy Town leaves the least effect, but even there Ojo gets directions home
and we finally see Realbad fail at something.

Crystal City combines practically all the elements we've seen in Thompson's
little visits:
* A monster to slay. Curiously, though the blue dragon's almost
never out of sight along the highway, Ojo and his companions don't see it
until they're up close [101].
* Strangely made people whose food is inedible [109].
* Hostile rulers. As soon as the king comes to, he starts
yelling--obviously an unsympathetic character [113].
* Forced marriage to an ugly woman; the crystal princess is this
book's eye-rolling character [119].
* The community's attempt to turn our heroes into people like
themselves. In one of his pessimistic moods Ojo actually imagines he can
feel himself changing [121].
* Inadvertent destruction of an inhabitant [110]. This element may
be rare in Thompson's books, but Baum used it in the China Country,
Cuttenclips, Loons, and so on.
* A prophecy for the hero [107]--again uncommon but precedented.
* Fight and flight response by the protagonists.
What's missing? Insistence that someone stay as a ruler (Catty Corners).
Forced labor (Monday Mountain). Not much else.

The next little episode is the Rolling Road. Surely Dorothy will eventually
realize that while roaming in Oz she should interpret every sign in the
worst possible way! This brief detour manages to take the searchers far out
of their way. But who told Dorothy and her friends to roll on into the
river which, despite the Lion's grumping, seems to be helpful? Thompson
asks that question and leaves it dangling [152]. Perhaps it's the Dicky
Bird circling overhead.

Getting all her cliches out of the way in Crystal City seems to free
Thompson up for Dicksyland, where she goes in the opposite direction.
Dicksyland seems almost like a parody of the usual visits. Rather than be
alarmed at Dorothy and her friends, the Dick with the Queer Hatband uses
his smallifying glasses to become unnaturally calm [156-7]. The Dicks
welcome Scraps, Dorothy, and the Cowardly Lion as they are [159]. For a
moment the Dictator appears to be "rather unpleasant" [163], but then it
turns out he's trying to provoke a rebellion against himself [168]. Far
from locking up the travelers, the Dicks provide them with an escort home
[173]. Being a genuinely cordial and happy little walled town might be the
queerest thing about Dicksyland.

Tappy Town reverts somewhat to Thompson's usual form, but now it's no
longer clear to us readers whether the people there will be hostile or not.
Though the footmen as "annoyed by the sound of voices" [211], the king's
face is "round and pleasant" [213]. And until Realbad clogs up the
conversation [218], everything goes well. "It was so unpleasant an ending
to so interesting an adventure that Ojo was stunned" [219].

The visit to Unicorners is an Elysian interlude, probably one of Thompson's
most appealing. (It seems telling that only Roganda remains active in the
plot and reappears in a later book.) The magically filling apples, candy
leaves, and jewels underscore how special Unicorners is. It's almost a
temptation from the characters' quests. Ojo says, "I would like to stay"
[252], and Snuffer convinces him that Realbad has found his own attractions
there, too. A few small observations:
* Though the text says the dwarfs have blue beards, Neill draws
most of them as racetrack grooms with sideburns--not that there's anything
wrong with sideburns [242, 247].
* The dwarfs carry red lanterns in the blue country [231].
* Though the only unicorns we meet by name are female, Ojo plays
catch with "big handsome fellows" [245].

For some reason I recall X. Pando more fondly than he deserves--perhaps
because he's the only X in WHO'S WHO. I remember noticing on first reading
how much Pando resembles Reachard, also said to have an "elastic" limb--but
Reachard's doesn't seem to retract to normal size [171]. Pando's father,
from whom he inherited his gift [263], is also out there somewhere. Last
week I read Art Speigelman and Chip Kidd's new book on PLASTIC MAN; there
must have been something exciting about elasticity in this decade.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Wed Dec 12, 2001  9:09 pm
Subject:  OJO plotting

David Hulan wrote:
<<It occurred to me last night that OJO is unique in one way - it's the
only post-Baum Oz book that takes place entirely inside Oz, if you consider
the border of Oz is where the habitable country meets the Deadly Desert. .
. . Baum had four books take place entirely within Oz (PATCHWORK GIRL, LOST
PRINCESS, TIN WOODMAN, and GLINDA), but his successors almost always had at
least a short episode taking place outside Oz itself.>>

Interesting point. Of these five entirely internal books, four show or
mention Ojo traveling, and I don't recall him making significant trips to
new places in any others. (Showing up back at the Emerald City doesn't
count.) Coincidence? Probably.

Practically all of OJO takes place in Munchkinland, the exceptional
chapters being in the very familiar locations of the Emerald City and
Glinda's castle. That geographical scope within Oz also seems more
restricted than most books in the series. Of course, many of the books
cover more ground by following two or three sets of travelers, but in OJO
Dorothy's adventure is cut off after three chapters.

Thompson's other books in this stretch--PURPLE PRINCE, SPEEDY, WISHING
HORSE, CAPTAIN SALT--also focus on one party with only brief glimpses, if
any, of what people elsewhere are up to. Thompson may have tired of
juggling multiple quests, as in GIANT HORSE or LOST KING. Then again, she
still knows the tricks of doing that. Chapter 7 ends with Ojo mentioning
Ozma and the Magic Picture and Snuffer pulling him away from Realbad to
parts unknown [129-31]. That provides both a cliff-hanger and a graceful
segue to the next chapter, with Ozma looking in the Picture.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  Tigerbooks at a...
Date:  Wed Dec 12, 2001  10:24 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO Ojo

In a message dated 12/12/01 1:58:38 PM Pacific
Standard Time, JnoLBell at compuserve.com writes:

As I recall, Gore Vidal also identified most with Speedy, which casts some
doubt on the growing-up-gay theory. (One reason for Vidal's preference was
his family's ties to the celebrity aviators of the 1920s and '30s.)

Hmm... Odd you should mention Speedy as I was ready to write a post mentionming
him along these lines. I have always reallyl ike Speedy, too.

I never cared much for Peter. He seemed to much the "jock" Neill's
illustrations aside. Speedy always struck me as much more open-minded than
Peter, too. I'd have a hard time imagining Peter feeling at ease on an island
where all the men wear skirts (Umbrella Island). And I can hardly see Peter
hanging out with Gureeda and wearing pajamas in public.

--David M.

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Thu Dec 13, 2001  1:00 pm
Subject:  He's a Pipt

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<we don't really know how the Pipts' minds worked, so I guess we don't
know that for sure. Still, Pipt DID make more than just the powder he used
on the Patchwork Girl (the rest was wasted on Victor Columbia Edison), so
maybe he did have another use in mind.>>

Dr. Pipt probably also valued the Powder of Life as "currency" for trading
with other magicians. He traded some of his earlier product to Mombi in
return for "several important secrets of magic" (LAND), including a "Powder
of Perpetual Youth" (PATCHWORK GIRL). If he were planning to do anything
like that again, the Patchwork Girl would have been useful as more than a
household servant: she would have been living proof that this latest batch
of powder worked.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at m...>
Date:  Thu Dec 13, 2001  1:23 pm
Subject:  ojo in oz

J.L. Bell: Yes, you're right that the comments about the active, intentional
quality of "taking steps" applies better to Mooj than to Ree Alla Bad. But
it's at least possible that RPT, constructing an ambiguous clue for the
Great Book to give regarding actions of RAB, might have come up with the
description given, without realizing that it applied more exactly to Mooj.
And, as David Hulan pointed out, although Mooj is claiming the title of King
of Seebania in some contexts, he also refers to Ojo as the king's son, which
sounds as if at some level even Mooj considers RAB the Rightful King. So on
balance this detail strikes me as confusing. // Yes, Ozma's failure to use
the Magic Belt at the start of the action and end things right there is
surprising, isn't it? // The discussion by you and others of Baum's boys in
Oz has been leaving out one who is in an Oz book, although not in Oz. So
I'll remark that Inga is one with an intact family.

Nathan DeHoff: A king with two heirs is unlikely, but it's been known to
happen in Earth history, occasionally. If the territory is so large that the
prince lives in and rules one place, while the king is off somewhere else,
it's possible for a king with a considerable fondness for a younger son to
decide to split up the kingdom or for sons arguing over who ought to inherit
to decide to divvy up the estate. The ideas that a territory must not be
split up and that the oldest surviving son (if any, with options for
daughters a possibility) should get the lot are often in force, but not
always. So the possibility that a King of the Munchkins who was father of
the Prince of the Ozure Isles might also be the father of someone who was
Prince of Seebania, leaving both to become kings after his death is at least
something that could be considered.

I looked over the color plates in "Ojo" the other night, and noticed that
this is one book where none of the plates cover the same ground as any of
the b&w illos -- or only barely. The color full-length portrait of Realbad
is a little bit like the first two head-portraits of him in b&w vignette,
and that's about it. Several of the color plates are of people who are not
otherewise illustrated at all (or only barely) -- Opodock, Zithero, the Blue
Dragon, the crystal princess (seen with her father, who is also seen in a
b&w 2-shot with the crystal queen), the Dicksey Land gatekeeper, and
Snoctoromus (barely seen as a head after being conquered by Realbad). The
Blue Dragon and the Snoctorotomus are both fine monsters -- very monstrous,
and also very funny (almost Seussian in their exuberance). That little
rabbit who was worried about Snuffer in a b&w illo is likewise worried about
the Dragon. It's odd that Ojo isn't really featured in any of these. He
shares the cover about equally with Snuffer and Realbad, and he's not as
important in their plates as the melting crystal cook or Snoctorotomus. He
doesn't even show up in the full-page b&w illos much, although he gets some
vignette portraits. The unicorn by the reflecting pool is a romantic vision.
The sapphires falling before the appalled Snuffer seem to be mostly red and
yellow.

Ruth Berman

From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at ...>
Date: Thu Dec 13, 2001  7:52 pm
Subject: Re: [Nonestica] OJO little communities

J. L. Bell:
>Crystal City [There's a DC Metro stop of
>the same name, isn't there?]

Yes, there is. I remember noticing that last time I
was in DC.  

> * Strangely made people whose food is inedible [109].

It's sort of mysterious why the crystal people would have to eat at all.
Indeed, when Ojo thinks he's about to be crystalized, he thinks, "At least I
won't be hungry anymore." There must be some use for the cook, kitchen
maids, and glass fruit and soup, however.

> * Forced marriage to an ugly woman; the crystal princess is this
>book's eye-rolling character [119].

Note that Thompson makes it quite clear that Princess Crystobel is "ugly."
So much for beauty being in the eye of the beholder.  I believe Snufferbux
is the only character to actually mention her ugliness, though, and I would
imagine that his standards of beauty would differ from human ones.

>What's missing? Insistence that someone stay as a ruler (Catty Corners).

What do you mean? I think the cats just wanted Mombi to stay with them, not
serve as their ruler. They already had a queen.  Crystobel certainly wants
the travellers to stay in the city.

>The next little episode is the Rolling Road.  Surely Dorothy will eventually
>realize that while roaming in Oz she should interpret every sign in the
>worst possible way! This brief detour manages to take the searchers far out
>of their way. But who told Dorothy and her friends to roll on into the
>river which, despite the Lion's grumping, seems to be helpful? Thompson
>asks that question and leaves it dangling [152].  Perhaps it's the Dicky
>Bird circling overhead.

Perhaps, but that bird doesn't talk when Dorothy's party actually sees it.
Isn't it somewhat odd that Dorothy continues to curl, even though the others
get over it? Also, the Dicks consider this curling to be a peculiarity,
even though you'd think that, living so close to the Rolling Road
themselves, they'd be used to it by now.

>For a moment the Dictator appears to be "rather unpleasant" [163], but then
>it
>turns out he's trying to provoke a rebellion against himself [168].

Is there any meaning to being defied on a white horse, or is that just a bit
of Thompsonian nonsense?

Nathan

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Fri Dec 14, 2001  1:08 pm
Subject:  White horses

Nathan:
>Is there any meaning to being defied on a white horse, or is that just a bit
>of Thompsonian nonsense?

It's probably an allusion to the phrase, "man on a white horse," that
refers to (usually) a military leader who forcibly takes over a
country that's being badly run and straightens things out.
Particularly common in Latin America. Defying the "man on a white
horse" was a good way to find yourself in prison or worse.

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Fri Dec 14, 2001  2:36 pm
Subject:  OJO magic

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<I read OJO before YELLOW KNIGHT, and, when I got to the latter book, I
was surprised the find the Searchlight in it. It seems to work
differently, though; YELLOW KNIGHT says that it simply tells the location
of someone or something (in Morse Code, perhaps?), while, in OJO, it's
something that can be followed.>>

The end of chapter 6 in YELLOW KNIGHT seems to have the most detailed
description of how the searchlight works: "This searchlight, shot like an
ordinary shell from a cannon, will travel all over Oz until it finds what
it is sent for and then it will flash back with the exact location of the
missing objects and people." In chapter 20, the light travels slow enough
for people to follow with their eyes, but then flashes back to the Emerald
City (seemingly going there, since the light beam disappears in Corabia) at the speed of light.
The word "flash" here seems to mean "move fast," since the light
flashes back WITH the location of its object rather than flashing back that
location from afar. But how it communicates the location is obscure.
In OJO, indeed, the searchlight seems to move slowly enough for the
Wizard's party to follow it, and to trail Mooj to Shamsbad rather than do a
global search for him. Those might be the modifications that sent the tool
back to the Wizard's shop.

<<It is never totally clear whether the Flying Pills actually dragged the
characters toward the light, or they had to follow it themselves. There is
no indication that they have to flap their arms like wings or anything,
however.>>

Since some of those characters are carrying very valuable clocks, they
almost certainly don't flap their arms. I suspect Thompson imagined people
swooping down as they do under the Magic Belt's power in YELLOW KNIGHT, but
whether any could have peeled off and flown somewhere else is unclear.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Fri Dec 14, 2001  2:36 pm
Subject:  OJO little communities

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<>What's missing? Insistence that someone stay as a ruler (Catty
Corners).

What do you mean? I think the cats just wanted Mombi to stay with them,
not serve as their ruler. They already had a queen. Crystobel certainly
wants the travellers to stay in the city.>>

In less carelessly edited form, I mean that Thompson's little communities
try to keep travelers for two reasons. They lock 'em up out of hostility,
like Double Up in PURPLE PRINCE or Scare City in JACK PUMPKINHEAD. Or the
populace demands that someone stay in a position of honor, as Catty Corners
adored Mombi (but locked up Snip and Pajuka). Speedy is greeted with hate
in Subterranea, love (or at least a crown) in Quix City. I suppose the
crystal princess's infatuation for Realbad is a small portion of love, but
I sorted that into the category of forced marriages.

<<>who told Dorothy and her friends to roll on into the
>river which, despite the Lion's grumping, seems to be helpful? Thompson
>asks that question and leaves it dangling [152]. Perhaps it's the Dicky
>Bird circling overhead.

Perhaps, but that bird doesn't talk when Dorothy's party actually sees it.
Isn't it somewhat odd that Dorothy continues to curl, even though the
others get over it? Also, the Dicks consider this curling to be a
peculiarity, even though you'd think that, living so close to the Rolling
Road themselves, they'd be used to it by now.>>

I can't help but suspect that an Ozian bird wearing a lettered sign and
responding to others' words knows how to speak. It's odd--perhaps even
queer--that Thompson creates the mysterious voice and even has her
characters discuss it without offering a better explanation.
Dorothy may curl more often after her swim in the river because she
absorbs less water than Scraps, who soaks it up like a sponge, and the
Cowardly Lion, who's furry and may have stayed in a bit longer.
The Rolling Road may not stay around Dicksyland. It seems to be one
of those parts of the Thompsonian landscape that moves people around
unpredictably and then moves off somewhere else.

<<Is there any meaning to being defied on a white horse, or is that just a
bit of Thompsonian nonsense?>>

The "man on a white horse" is a common metaphor for a populist dictator,
appearing to ride in to save the people from some crisis. It may have its
roots in Revelations 6, which depicts the Antichrist mounted that way, or
it may just refer to the appeal of a handsome, powerful, militaristic
leader. Little Dickus, by bringing out his white horse, is making himself
as dictatorial as possible.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Sat Dec 15, 2001  4:38 pm
Subject:  OJO art

John R. Neill's art for OJO seems less formal than what he created for
other recent books. The chapter openers, for instance, are distinguished
only by a thick black bar underneath the drawings, not by special frames or
shapes. More of the small pieces within the text may be boxed than in other
books, but I haven't done a count. The full-page illustrations are all
framed in hand-drawn boxes, with captions from the book's text below. Neill
seems to be working completely with black line, with no screens for
shading.

The endpapers are very impressive, a two-page image of the gypsies' caravan
that fits closely with how Thompson describes it: horses, dogs, a
redundantly described "small dusty little donkey" [20], and a bear being
dragged behind the last cart. The wagons look like Ozian houses on wheels,
each more eccentric than the last. [The even more eccentric vehicles of Dr.
Seuss's AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET wouldn't roll in
until 1937.]

Also in the endpapers is the Woozy, watching the gypsies from under a
parasol. The drivers take no notice of him, though such a unique animal
might be a good attraction for their shows. Rather, the Woozy functions as
assurance for readers that this is indeed an Oz story since there are no
other familiar faces to be seen.

The Patchwork Girl performs the same function in the next stretch of pages.
She alone appears on the "The Book Belongs to," title, and contents pages.
Though the Woozy and Scraps are two of Neill's favorites, for this book it
seems significant that they were also Ojo's early companions.

The other figure dominating the frontmatter is Snufferbux, who appears on
the endpapers, copyright page, author's note (with Ojo), and in sixteen
dancing vignettes opposite the start of chapter 1. Thompson acknowledges
the importance of drawings like these in her author's note: "You will see
by glancing at the pictures that there is a dancing bear in the story." As
elsewhere in the book, Neill isn't consistent about drawing Snuffer with
the clothing he picks up: belt and pouch, boots, suspenders.

Comments on individual pieces of art, keyed to pages--

17: The placement of this picture of an Ozian house implies that it's Ojo
and Unc Nunkie's cottage. However, the big front window, number 52 over the
door, and lack of immediate proximity to the Emerald City wall [23] might
imply otherwise. In any event, its face is an interesting variation on the
other Ozian houses Neill's designed.

29: This is the book's last image of Ojo's elaborate lace collar (borrowed
for PATCHWORK GIRL from the Dutch Old Masters) until page 301. Already
Neill's discarded the gold bells around the boy's hat brim. Those bells are
restored for the cover art, but not the collar. I sense that Neill was
grateful the gypsy children's attack relieved him from having to draw those
details throughout the book. Later Ojo loses his whole hat [90], further lessening Neill's job.
[I can't help but think Ojo was pleased to go without the collar
and bells, too. Can you imagine walking around all day with bells hanging
near your ears?]

75: As in PIRATES we get a glimpse of a map of Oz, but not enough of one to
be useful.

86: Are these our heroes dropping onto Crystal Mountain from the air? Or
starting their slide down the inside? Unlike the use of white space to
represent snow at the start of the next chapter [98], this art looks
awkward to me.

118: The placement of this picture and the tree roots clearly indicate that
it shows the Snow Dwarf who sent the dragon to freeze Crystal City. He
doesn't look at all snowy, however. And he appears to have an embarrassing
fungal condition. No wonder Princess Crystobel prefers Realbad.

134, 139: Fine character studies of Scraps, even though Neill is skimping
mightily on her patches.

161: Neill adds his own pun to Dicksy Land by dressing the Dick with the
Queer Collar in a dicky. On the overhang, we see what might be the first
example of a car in Oz.

165: I'm not sure why the Dick with the Queer Collar would be standing on a
wine bottle, except that it's a queer thing to do.

167: Lovely queer horse tackle, again very Seussian before Dr. Seuss
started to work in children's books.

175, 177, 187: Reachard's right hand looks like a left hand, such is his
elasticity.

208: Neill's addition of a fire hydrant, street lamp, and waste barrel in
Tappy Town, like the car (?) in Dicksy Land and the light switch [141] and
elevators [261] in the Emerald City, remind us that Oz and the US are still
more or less on par technologically.

215: Stampeero seems to have two left hands. This may be the Tappy Town
version of having two left feet. But it's more likely a result of Neill
being right-handed and using his free hand as a model.

278: This is my favorite drawing in this book, Realbad's confrontation with
Mooj. The bandit has tossed off his plumed hat and his mask of insouciance.
Mooj (whose scary clockwork face is all Neill's invention, let's remember)
is being throttled for the second time [187], yet his pose and shadow still
exude menace. I wonder if this picture and some others in this stretch
[270, 276] would work better flopped. Then the protagonists could all be
moving and pushing right, the direction we're reading, with Mooj in their way.
In fact, Realbad's belt indicates that either it's backwards or the
picture is. On the other hand, this drawing shows the bandit's sword in his
left hand, as do Neill's pictures on the cover, 128, and 199 (but not 247).
Is Realbad, like his son, left-handed?

296: The poppies and OZ headband imply this is Ozma, but the long neck,
mature face, and odd shadows to the sides give the picture a strong,
inexplicable resemblance to Isomere on 298. With her widow's peak and
broken-arched eyebrows, the queen of Seebania looks might exotic.

Ruth Berman wrote:
<<Several of the color plates are of people who are not otherewise
illustrated at all (or only barely) -- Opodock, Zithero, the Blue Dragon,
the crystal princess (seen with her father, who is also seen in a b&w
2-shot with the crystal queen), the Dicksey Land gatekeeper, and
Snoctoromus (barely seen as a head after being conquered by
Realbad).>>

Has anyone compiled a list of Oz characters seen only in color plates, and
thus relatively rare sights? That might make an interesting BUGLE color
feature, though less needed now with the Books of Wonder and Oz Club color
editions.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Mon Dec 17, 2001  12:40 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO art

J. L. Bell:
>208: Neill's addition of a fire hydrant, street lamp, and waste barrel in
>Tappy Town, like the car (?) in Dicksy Land and the light switch [141] and
>elevators [261] in the Emerald City, remind us that Oz and the US are still
>more or less on par technologically.

The mention of elevators in the Emerald City leads me to wonder which
buildings have them. Most of the buildings, at least in Neill's
illustrations, seem to have only one or two floors, so would not have much
need for elevators. The most likely candidate would be the palace itself,
although we've never seen anyone use them there. There's also an ivory
tower at the top of the public library, but the top of this is reached via
the Reversible Chute, not an elevator.

>296: The poppies and OZ headband imply this is Ozma, but the long neck,
>mature face, and odd shadows to the sides give the picture a strong,
>inexplicable resemblance to Isomere on 298.

This one always struck me as odd, too. Is it Isomere in Ozma's clothes, or
Ozma with Isomere's hairstyle? (Maybe Isomere forgot to bring a change of
clothes to the bandits' cave, and had to borrow some of Ozma's. In that
case, though, the picture is misplaced in the text.)

>Has anyone compiled a list of Oz characters seen only in color plates, and
>thus relatively rare sights? That might make an interesting BUGLE color
>feature, though less needed now with the Books of Wonder and Oz Club color
>editions.

I still haven't seen the color plates for most of the Thompson books, and
the only ones offered with these plates are ROYAL BOOK and KABUMPO (from
Books of Wonder) and SPEEDY and WISHING HORSE (from the Club). The color
plates in everything from COWARDLY LION through OJO are still largely
unavailable.

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Dec 18, 2001  4:26 pm
Subject:  elevation

Nathan DeHoff wrote:
<<The mention of elevators in the Emerald City leads me to wonder which
buildings have them. Most of the buildings, at least in Neill's
illustrations, seem to have only one or two floors, so would not have much
need for elevators. The most likely candidate would be the palace itself,
although we've never seen anyone use them there.>>

Back in boyhood, I made notes about a possible character in Ozma's palace
named Ella Vator. More recently I tried to use her as of off-stage
character: Number Nine explaining to a visitor that the elevator's
"Out"--out visiting relatives. But the pun was too strained. In the end,
that Emerald City elevator never got off the ground.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Scott Andrew Hutchins" <scottandrewh at h...>
Date:  Tue Dec 25, 2001  9:37 pm
Subject:  Ojo

I finally finished reading this today since I've
managed to keep myself off the computer lately (which is good, since I wasn't
writing like I should).  I need to start my new play while I'm waiting for
the screenwriting software to show up for me to format my _The Life of
Timon of Athens_ screenplay do I can call Harvey Keitel's representative
(at his production company, not his agent) about playing Apemantus--I have
connections.  

Despite some extreme plot holes, many already
pointed out, this is one of Thompson's better books, taking the germ of an idea
planted by Baum and using at as the basis this flawed but very good book. 
Purple Prince seemed to be, to me, Thompson's most conservative, archetypal,
"tradition of quality" novel, while OJO's biggest sufferings seem to
be from plot contrivances.  Although the coincidences were not glaring
enough to be bothersome, Scraps being able to wish on Dorothy's wishing pill
(which expressly did not work in _Land_) seemed like carelessness/laziness on
Thompson's part.  There were other elements like this, such as confusion
with regard to money and valuables.  Those who think Ozite infants are
brought by the story have the evidence of Roganda allowing Realbad to ride her
as support (if tradition is observed to be in place--safer in Thompson than in
Baum but not necessarily), not to mention Baum's poetic but seemingly
apocryphal "A Short, Short Oz Story."  Had Thompson had a better
editor, these weaknesses could easily have been corrected, I believe.  A
more difficult weakness to correct seems to be that Thompson was particularly
attached to Snufferbux and wrote the Cowardly Lion excessively like him,
apparently wanting him in two places at once.  I don't recall CL ever
using such sarcastic humor with the regularity he and Snufferbux both share,
and don't recall much of this Touchstone/Seinfeld sort of humor cropping up
with this regularity anywhere else in the Oz books.  I was also bugged by
Thompson calling the Wizard's flying pills "famous"--I believe they
are first mentioned by her in this book.

These caveats aside, the characters were
unusually well developed and motivated, and few of the town visits came across
as IEs.  Unicorners clearly was not an IE, and Tappy Town and certainly
Dickseyland have a greater significance to the whole, if not the plot per se,
than most other visits to such towns in Thompson (suggests clearly she reread
PG).  Dickus is an excellent foil for Realbad, his brief appearance
similar to the Fortinbras/Hamlet relationship (two other foils who never really
meet--unless one counts as a corpse).  Reachard seems to be a character
who could only survive in Oz.  By stretching his arm that far he leaves
himself incredibly open to attack.  This sequence is also interesting
because it may be Thompson's only description of an ordinary Ozite town, which,
to look at other books, one might suspect does not exist unless it is a
significant kingdom (i.e. Perhaps City, Shamsbad).  Dicksyland, however,
is one of Thompson's most pleasant eccentric cities.  Many Ozites would
fit right in if they considered Dickus as their mayor, even if that's not his
official title.

Neill's illustrations are weird.  Tik-Tok
(Internal Clockwork Morality Spring anyone?) and Scraps look particularly
sinister, while an Isomere (sounds chemical) drawing was obviously duplicated
as Ozma.  His full-page art of Roganda is quite beautiful, however.

Finally, the ending seems rather dismissive, as
if she felt it was cheating children to have any time spent on a futile quest
to find Re Alla Bad (is he Muslim?) and Stephen's father.  I would have
liked this portion better if it didn't feel so much like summary.  I
wonder why she would think Unc Nunkie would have such an ordinary Anglo name
when her brother does not, nor does his nephew.

I've been avoiding other readers' comments until
I finished.  I look forward to reading and responding.  Speedy has
such a cool cover.  Terrybubble always seemed like an incredible
character, but I haven't read it, so I hope I'm not disappointed.  I
haven't read any FF beyond Ojo, so it's all new to me.  Luckily, since I'm
broke, maxed out, and on the dole, I own copies of all until Wonder City.

BTW, I didn't know people were saying "Not!" and "It blows!" in 1933.

Scott Andrew Hutchins

"To destroy an offender cannot benefit society so much as to redeem him."
--L. Frank Baum, _The Flying Girl_, 1911

From:  "Scott Andrew Hutchins" <scottandrewh at h...>
Date:  Tue Dec 25, 2001  9:47 pm
Subject:  OJO

Another interesting thing about _Ojo_ is
Thompson's narrative voice.  In Purple Prince, she seems much more formal,
while Ojo seems much more off-the-cuff and anecdotal, which seems to contribute
both to the strengths and the weaknesses I pointed out in my previous post.

Scott Andrew Hutchins

"To destroy an offender cannot benefit society so much as to redeem him."
--L. Frank Baum, _The Flying Girl_, 1911

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 26, 2001  7:55 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] Ojo

Scott:
>A more difficult weakness to correct seems to be that Thompson was
> >particularly attached to Snufferbux and wrote the Cowardly Lion
> >excessively like him, apparently wanting him in two places at once. I
> >don't recall CL ever using such sarcastic humor with the regularity he
> >and Snufferbux both share, and don't recall much of this
> >Touchstone/Seinfeld sort of humor cropping up with this regularity
> >anywhere else in the Oz books.

Well, sarcastic animal companions are among Thompson's favorite creations,
but the Lion seems to have more of this trait in OJO than in Thompson's
other books. The Lion is quite sarcastic in the McGraw books, however.
Scraps's threats toward the Dickey Bird (I assume "soak" was 1930's slang
for something along the lines of "punch" or "beat up") seemed to foreshadow
her violent behavior in Neill's books, particularly WONDER CITY. (I don't
know for sure that this somewhat odd characterization of Scraps wasn't the
fault of the editor, but the fact that the Patchwork Girl also gets into
fights in SCALAWAGONS and RUNAWAY seems to suggest that it was Neill's own
idea.)

>I was also bugged by Thompson calling the Wizard's flying >pills
>"famous"--I believe they are first mentioned by her in this book.

I think this is the ONLY book to mention them, but that doesn't mean they
aren't famous within Oz. (After all, we generally only read about a few
days' worth of Ozian events within every year.)

>This sequence is also interesting because it may be Thompson's only
> >description of an ordinary Ozite town, which, to look at other books,
> >one might suspect does not exist unless it is a significant kingdom (i.e.
>Perhaps City, Shamsbad).

Kabumpo and Prince Pompadore travel through a seemingly ordinary Gillikin
village in KABUMPO, but they do not stay long enough for Thompson to provide
much description of it.

>BTW, I didn't know people were saying "Not!" and "It blows!" in 1933.

Where do these expressions appear in the book?

Nathan

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 26, 2001  8:06 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] BCF: The transformation of Mooj

Scott:
>Ugu transformed himself into a bird, right?

Dorothy transformed Ugu into a bird. Ugu then used his magic to grow into a
giant dove, but Dorothy shrank him down to a more manageable size.

>That was what I
>thought of immediately upon Ozma turning Mooj into a sparrow, whcih seems
>an un-Ozmalike thing to do to practice transformation.
>True, she transformed Mrs. Yoop into a green monkey, but only because there
>was no other way to restore Woot to his true form.

Ozma generally seems to be more transformation-happy in Thompson's books
than in Baum's. In addition to Mooj, she turns Ruggedo into a jug and his
pirate band into seagulls (both in PIRATES), Faleero into a raven (PURPLE
PRINCE), the Wizard of Wutz's agents into moles (HANDY MANDY), and Bustabo
into a red squirrel (OZOPLANING). Most of these transformations leave the
victims in animate forms, however, making her transformation of Mooj into a
drop of water one of the most severe. Then again, Mooj also seems to be one
of the most formidable and threatening villains. When Ozma and her
companions reach Shamsbad, Mooj apparently tries to enchant all of them, not
leaving Ozma with much time to react, and certainly no opportunity to reason
with him. It could be argued that she should have given him a trial before
enacting the second transformation, but, based on his actions, I think he
probably deserved the punishment he received.

Nathan

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Dec 26, 2001  8:26 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] Photography, Ojo, and Sir Hokus

Scott:
>You forget that Ozites at that time did not have any sort of mass media, so
>it seems likely that many would not recognize him as
>Prince Stephen even if they knew who Prince Stephen was.

I suppose ordinary Munchkins would not have recognized him, although other
rulers might have seem him upon visiting Seebania (or his visiting their
kingdoms).

>There doesn't seem to be strong internal evidence of a national or local
>newspaper service, despite the publisher-created assumption of one called
>_The Ozmapolitan_ where his photo would have appeared
>either, although we do know Ozites have photography.

The only reference to photography that I can recall is an illustration in
DOTWIZ that mentions the "Royal Photographer of Oz." We don't know for sure
that Baum gave his blessing for this caption, although the presence of
electric lights and phonographs makes it somewhat likely that Oz would have
photography. In OZMAPOLITAN, the Wizard has an old-time camera that he
gives to Tim, who seems to be unfamiliar with the art, despite working for a
newspaper. As for The Ozmapolitan, if it was founded by the Wizard (as
OZMAPOLITAN indicates), it might well have come too late to include pictures
of Prince Stephen.

>I haven't encountered Sir
>Hikus since his transformation yet, so I can't say. I don't know that he
>appears again until Neill, and my Berman and Peter
>what's'isname books are in the other room.

He and Ojo both make brief appearances in WISHING HORSE, but they do not
have any lines (as far as I can remember). Neill restores Sir Hokus' old
appearance and personality, and, for some unknown reason, makes Ojo
Kabumpo's elephant boy. (Since Kabumpo has had at least one other prince as
an attendant, this is not all that unlikely, but, in typical Neillian
fashion, there is no explanation as to WHY Ojo has become Kabumpo's
attendant.)

>I do wonder if that means the transformation is regressing, or if Sir Hokus
>is the
>Yellow Knight and he just decided not to shave his moustache, and his
>personailty isn't as altered as we thought.

I think this is quite likely. Perhaps Sir Hokus is just a rapidly aged
version of Prince Corum. If so, Hokus isn't really gone at the end of
YELLOW KNIGHT, just married, shaved, and restored to his home and youth. He
could easily grow back into his old self, which would explain the presence
of the older Sir Hokus in Neill's illustrations for his own books. The
decade in between YELLOW KNIGHT and WONDER CITY would have been enough time
for him to regrow his moustache, I should think. (After all, Omby Amby
regrows his beard in between EMERALD CITY and PATCHWORK GIRL.)

Nathan

From:  "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne at a...>
Date:  Thu Dec 27, 2001  5:09 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] Ojo

>
Scott Andrew Hutchins wrote:
> BTW, I didn't know people were saying "Not!" and "It blows!" in 1933.

"Not!" goes back at least to the 1890's.

--
John W. Kennedy
(Working from my laptop)

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Thu Dec 27, 2001  8:02 pm
Subject:  OJO miscellany

Scott Hutchins wrote:
<<Thompson apparently didn't know how to crosscut very well in the way
Dickens did, and most other authors picked up. She tends to stretch a
plotline until she's bored with it and then start the other. While this
can be effective, I don't think she uses it very effectively. It was
striking (if not necessarily effective) in _Pirates_, and it seems to
hamper her here more than it creates intentional jars, as exemplified by
this clear confusion on her part.>>

As you've read, I think the "clear confusion" about time in OJO is a
creation of our assuming that Thompson wanted the Great Book of Records to
refer to Ree Alla Bad. If we accept that she didn't, the timing problem,
and the confusion, clear up.
In fact, I think Thompson manages her cross-cutting between plots
rather well--better than other elements of her plotting. She does less
cross-cutting in OJO than in other books, but she uses her usual
techniques. In the last chapter devoted to one plot thread, she drops hints
about the other: Ojo thinks of the Magic Picture, his old friends, the
Emerald City. And then we see all of those. Both major shifts in plot take
place at a big cliff-hanger: Snuffer dragging Ojo from Realbad and Mooj
locking up Dorothy's search party.
To tie those plots up together, Thompson uses the three-page
chapter 18: Ojo meets the enchanted clocks. Then she takes us back outside
Mooj's cottage and back to the moment Snuffer realized his mistake. We
don't get into Ojo's head again until chapter 21, experiencing the events
that swiftly follow through the eyes of Snuffer, Realbad, and Ozma instead.

<<I was also bugged by Thompson calling the Wizard's flying pills
"famous"--I believe they are first mentioned by her in this book.>>

In LOST KING, Thompson showed the Wizard experimenting with Dr. Nikidik's
wishing pills. By HUNGRY TIGER he had his own "new wishing powders." So he
may well have created the pills before OJO. There's no reason to assume
they should work the same as the Dr. Nikidik pills we saw in LAND, however.
The Wizard presumably sought a formulation without the harmful side effects.
Compared to the Magic Belt, wishing pills present one major
advantage to a novelist plotting a book: each provides only one wish. Baum
in effect put a similar limitation on the Belt in LOST PRINCESS. Much more
suspense that way, of course.

<<_Ojo_ certainly implies money, but I don't think ever
specifically.>>

The gypsies have copper coins. Whether Ozians still trade those as
currency, however, is not explicit.

<<> In contrast, that word appears only once in each of WISHING HORSE and
> CAPTAIN SALT, the next two books in the series.

Did you put it into a computer and search it?>>

No, I'm not that diligent. E-texts of public-domain Oz books are available
on the web.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Thu Dec 27, 2001  8:02 pm
Subject:  soaked him good

Nathan DeHoff wrote of:
<<Scraps's threats toward the Dickey Bird (I assume "soak" was 1930's slang
for something along the lines of "punch" or "beat up")>>

Yes. Back when baseball fielders could put out a runner by hitting him with
a thrown ball when he was between bases, that was also called
"soaking."

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne at a...>
Date:  Fri Dec 28, 2001  10:19 am
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] soaked him good

"J. L. Bell" wrote:
>
> Nathan DeHoff wrote of:
> <<Scraps's threats toward the Dickey Bird (I assume "soak" was 1930's slang
> for something along the lines of "punch" or "beat up")>>
>
> Yes. Back when baseball fielders could put out a runner by hitting him with
> a thrown ball when he was between bases, that was also called "soaking."

Just in case anyone is wondering, that time was before the US Civil War,
and no modern writer would even refer to the game in question as
"baseball" without a caveat (though "baseball" was one of the names it
had at the time, along with "rounders", which is the accepted modern
name).

--
John W. Kennedy
(Working from my laptop)

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Fri Dec 28, 2001  3:01 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO miscellany

J. L. Bell:
><<I was also bugged by Thompson calling the Wizard's flying pills
>"famous"--I believe they are first mentioned by her in this book.>>
>
>In LOST KING, Thompson showed the Wizard experimenting with Dr.  Nikidik's
>wishing pills. By HUNGRY TIGER he had his own "new wishing powders." So he
>may well have created the pills before OJO.

The wishing pills are also used in GIANT HORSE and PURPLE PRINCE, so they
could certainly be considered famous by the time of OJO. Scott was
referring to the FLYING pills, however.

Nathan

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Mon Dec 31, 2001  11:22 pm
Subject:  soaked him good

John W. Kennedy wrote:
<<Just in case anyone is wondering, that time was before the US Civil War,
and no modern writer would even refer to the game in question as "baseball"
without a caveat (though "baseball" was one of the names it had at the
time, along with "rounders", which is the accepted modern name).>>

Isn't that like saying that medieval footsoldiers didn't go to "war" since
they didn't have rifles of the sort we've always used for war in recent
centuries? People have gone out to play "baseball" (or "base-ball") since
the 1700s. The game got its first, brief mention in literature in Austen's
NORTHANGER ABBEY. That was decades before Alexander Cartwright's rules for
the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York forbade "soaking" or "plunking"
a player. Though that rule change (in the 1840s) was indeed a significant
step toward the game we know today, generations of people had gone out to
play "baseball" games in which fielders could put a runner out by hitting
him with the ball. Imposing our definitions of convenience back onto the
18th and 19th centuries blurs the game's historical evolution.

For those interested in more on this topic, here are some sources--
Warren Goldstein. PLAYING FOR KEEPS: A HISTORY OF EARLY BASEBALL.
Cornell U. Press, 1989.
Harold Peterson. THE MAN WHO INVENTED BASEBALL. Scribners, 1973.
(Overenthusiastic, but a good picture of how many versions of the basic
game have been invented, and overlapped at times.)
Harold Seymour. BASEBALL: THE EARLY YEARS. Oxford U. Press (NY),
1960.
J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne at a...>
Date:  Tue Jan 1, 2002  2:18 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] soaked him good

"J. L. Bell" wrote:
>
> John W. Kennedy wrote:
> <<Just in case anyone is wondering, that time was before the US Civil War,
> and no modern writer would even refer to the game in question as "baseball"
> without a caveat (though "baseball" was one of the names it had at the
> time, along with "rounders", which is the accepted modern name).>>
>
> Isn't that like saying that medieval footsoldiers didn't go to "war" since
> they didn't have rifles of the sort we've always used for war in recent
> centuries? People have gone out to play "baseball" (or "base-ball") since
> the 1700s. The game got its first, brief mention in literature in Austen's
> NORTHANGER ABBEY. That was decades before Alexander Cartwright's rules for
> the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York forbade "soaking" or "plunking"
> a player. Though that rule change (in the 1840s) was indeed a significant
> step toward the game we know today, generations of people had gone out to
> play "baseball" games in which fielders could put a runner out by hitting
> him with the ball. Imposing our definitions of convenience back onto the
> 18th and 19th centuries blurs the game's historical evolution.

Now, now -- I said "without a caveat". And to most authorities, that
rule change is "where the modern game of baseball, as distinct from
rounders, was invented".

Sometimes this happens in language. Two hundred years ago, the words
"fortepiano" and "pianoforte" were interchangeable. One hundred years
ago, "fortepiano" was an obsolete synonym for "pianoforte". Today,
"fortepiano" has acquired a meaning of its own, viz, "a pianoforte of
the kind that Mozart and Beethoven knew, before Liszt and the Romantics
insisted on making the instrument twice as LOUD", and there are
craftsmen who build "fortepianos" and performers who specialize in
playing them.

Or consider "land mine". A "land mine", which used to be called a
"mine", is called that to distinguish it from a "naval mine", which used
to be called a "torpedo", but needed a new name to distinguish it from
the new "locomotive torpedo", because people were starting to leave off
the "locomotive".

--
John W. Kennedy
"Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays"
-- Charles Williams

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Jan 1, 2002  5:28 pm
Subject:  OJO queer Dicks

A while back there was a little exchange on whether the Dick with a queer
hat band was an allusion to homosexuality or (in some readings) whether
that Dick was himself gay. In rereading OJO this time I looked for any
evidence one way or the other, and concluded that the text offers no clear
hints in favor of such interpretations.

The phrase "queer as Dick's hat band" appeared in Grose's VULGAR TONGUE in
1788; according to one tradition, the phrase goes back to the end of the
Protectorate in the 17th century. It simply meant "very odd." I can't date
the term "queer dick," more central to Thompson's notion of Dicksyland, but
equivalents meaning just "unusual man" also go back centuries.

Using "queer" to mean "gay" is relatively recent: the OED's earliest
citation is from 1922, and the usage doesn't seem to have taken hold until
the following decade. [Merriam-Webster's dates the sexual meaning to the
early 1800s, but provides no citations.] Only after that period did "as
queer as a Dick's hat band" and other old phrases obtain new, sexualized
meaning. Thus, neither Thompson nor her readers (old or young) were likely
to think of "queer as Dick's hatband" or "queer Dicks" as necessarily
meaning "homosexual."

But might Thompson have had a double meaning in the back of her mind,
thinking of the Dicks as both odd and gay? That's more difficult to answer.
I see her books as acknowledging human sexuality more than Baum's, though
still at a conventional and superficial level. (For instance, Dorothy goes
into another room to dress, showing that her unclothed body is private even
from such old friends as Scraps and the Cowardly Lion [141].) But as hard
as I push to find hints of sexuality about the Dicks, I can't come up with
anything convincing.

Dicksyland is an all-male society, but Thompson turns that into a double
joke on women: "There were no women, hence not much conversation.  Dorothy
decided this was because men were queerer than women, but I am not so sure"
[162]. The bandits in OJO are also all male, as were the pirate crews in
PIRATES and various bands in other books, so being a bunch of guys living
together is hardly unique to the Dicks.

Do the Dicks reflect any stereotype of gay men that prevailed in 1933?
Thompson tells us "They were all gentle and harmless" [163], but so are
most folks in the Emerald City. Some of the Dicks dress flashily, in queer
hat bands and collars, but by Oz standards they're nearly unexceptionable.
One is artistic enough to have "actually made a living with his pen" [162],
but that's another joke on the author herself. Reachard's wrist is as
flexible as the rest of his right arm, but calling it weak would be a
stretch (and he's not a Dicksyland native, anyhow). Since those stereotypes
are questionable to begin with, it's shaky to read the Dicks' qualities as
hints of homosexuality.

I suspect Thompson's thinking followed this trail of puns: Dixieland -->
Dicksyland, a land of men named Dick --> queer Dicks. At that point she
branched in two directions:
1) --> queer as Dick's hatband --> other queer garments --> other queer
qualities, from diet to profession.
2) --> every other pun on Dick that she could come up with: Dicky Bird,
dictator, Dickens, Richard/Reachard, and so on.
(Though Thompson often broke Baum's rule against money in Oz, she didn't
have the Dicks use three-dollar bills, another metaphor for queerness back
into the 19th century.)

Probing this question brought out an interesting pattern in how the Oz
authors used the word "queer." Baum was fond of it in the sense of
"strikingly unusual." He used the word eleven times in WIZARD, fourteen in
EMERALD CITY, eight in TIN WOODMAN, eleven in MAGIC, and nine in GLINDA, to
take a sample. Thompson seems to have followed that pattern at first, using
the word twelve times in ROYAL BOOK.

But toward the end of the 1930s Thompson moved away from "queer." Though
she used the word eight times in CAPTAIN SALT, it appears only twice in
HANDY MANDY and once each in SILVER PRINCESS and OZOPLANING. Perhaps that's
a sign that she'd learned the word was developing a sexual meaning.

Jack Snow, a gay man writing when the sexual connotation of "queer" had
become stronger, used the word only twice in MAGICAL MIMICS and never in
SHAGGY MAN. Furthermore, in WHO'S WHO he included no entries for the two
Dicks known for their queer garments, nor did his entry about Dickus
acknowledge that the little man ruled a town of queer Dicks. (I wonder if
Snow ever used the word "queer" in that reference book, but I'm not about
to thumb through it all.) Thus, though there's no evidence the Dicks
originally symbolized homosexuality, they may have been later pushed into a
closet for fear people could read them that way.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Tue Jan 1, 2002  9:59 pm
Subject:  OJO miscellany

Here are a number of interesting lines from OJO or small observations about
the book I want to get out of my system before we speed on.

Author's note: "Do write, for I enjoy your letters as much as you enjoy the
Oz books. And do write plainly so I won't get a permanent wave in my
forehead trying to puzzle out the addresses, and you won't get a permanent
squint looking for letters that never come because they were sent to wrong
and peculiar places." Thompson knew her audience.

At the end of PATCHWORK GIRL Ozma gave Unc Nunkie "a nice house just
outside the walls of the Emerald City." In OJO we learn that it's on the
"western"--i.e., eastern--side of the city, facing the household's native
Munchkinland [17]. It has many windows for Unc Nunkie to slam down [22],
though probably not as many as Neill's drawing of a house (this one or
another?) at the start of chapter 1.
From the cottage garden is "a small door leading directly into the
royal park of Ozma's castle" [23]. This park seems to be separate from the
palace garden since Melody Grandy's essay on the latter (available in the
Nonestica files) quotes an unidentified Oz book as saying that the garden
and city walls are separate. If the park indeed stretches from Ozma's
palace complex all the way to the city wall, there must be houses in the
western half of the Emerald City that one can travel between only by
stepping into the royal park or taking the long route all the way around
the palace.

"Yes, even in Squeedonia, which is thirty-five jumps from the jumping-off
place, the little Squeedoneezers know their hoztry and geozify by heart.
But they, and even YOU, do not know what happened lately to Ojo in Oz, so
listen carefully, for that is what I am about to tell you" [19]. Here we
see Thompson's casual narrative tone, one that even states the expectation
that Ojo's story will be heard instead of read.
I don't think we ever read more of Squeedonia or the jumping-off
place. The Oz Club map places them at the western edge of the continent.
That's about as far from Oz as one can get without crossing the Nonestic,
so it would indeed be noteworthy that Squeedoneezers memorize the history
of the mist-shrouded country in the middle of the desert to the east. Few
nations are so interested in the affairs of other nations.
Similarly, later we learn about a "small war between the Grigs and
Twigs of South Mountain" [189-90], and all we're told about these folks is
that the Scarecrow thinks of Ojo as "as lively as a Grig" [191].

A useful coinage: "To begin with, it was one of those ratherish times,
rather too late to play out of doors and rather too early for supper..."
[19]

"'Let's look around,' suggested Realbad, jumping up impatiently. 'Come
along, treasure, maybe we can find a path or some other way down.' Ojo did
not like Realbad to call him treasure, but nevertheless, he hurried after
the long-legged bandit..." [92]
That passage makes a nice link to Realbad's complaint three pages
later that "All my possessions and treasures were stolen from me by
gentlemanly and noble rascals." There the word "treasures" must refer to
his family and home or be redundant. In retrospect, Ojo really is one of
Realbad's treasures, though neither knows that yet.
When Snufferbux chides Realbad, "Suppose you had a son of your own"
[128], Thompson clearly presages the end of her plot. But there are tinier
hints as well, perhaps unknown even to the author, as when Realbad
describes Ojo as "wound up there [in the Snoctorotomus's folds] like a
papoose" [200]. That simile compares Ojo to the baby boy which Realbad
doesn't yet know he's lost. It also indicates that some Native American
words have become common in Oz.

Realbad: "Starving is such slow work" [99]. Especially in Oz.

Queen Christine: "No one ever asks you to dance at court balls and this
bear would save us all so much embarrassment."
Princess Crystobel: "MOTHER!" [119]
Even ice princesses hate when their parents embarrass them.

Ojo: "Poor people are always kinder than kings" [124]. Spoken like a poor
boy--will Prince Ojo continue to believe this?

Roganda: "Nothing is ever the same. That is what makes life interesting" [302].
This aphorism is vaguely notable in itself, but more so as a
contrast to the unicorn's attitude before Ojo arrived. Then she had only
lukewarm interest in leaving her idyllic home, and worried that people
would bore her [251]. In helping to save Ojo, Roganda seems to acquire a
taste for adventure.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at m...>
Date:  Wed Jan 2, 2002  11:22 am
Subject:  sashes & directions

"jno23x" <JnoLBell at c...> wrote:
> A while back there was a little exchange on whether the Dick with a queer
hat band was an allusion to homosexuality or (in some readings) whether that
Dick was himself gay. In rereading OJO this time I looked for any evidence
one way or the other, and concluded that the text offers no clear hints in
favor of such interpretations. >

A strong indication of nonstandard sexuality (perhaps cross-dressing rather
than homosexuality as such) is that what is queer about the Dick's hat band
is that it is a girl's sash.

Ruth Berman

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Wed Jan 2, 2002  12:34 pm
Subject:  OFF TOPIC: soaked him good

John W. Kennedy wrote:
<<> Isn't that like saying that medieval footsoldiers didn't go to "war" since
> they didn't have rifles of the sort we've always used for war in recent
> centuries? People have gone out to play "baseball" (or "base-ball") since
> the 1700s. The game got its first, brief mention in literature in Austen's
> NORTHANGER ABBEY. That was decades before Alexander Cartwright's rules for
> the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York forbade "soaking" or "plunking"
> a player. Though that rule change (in the 1840s) was indeed a significant
> step toward the game we know today, generations of people had gone out to
> play "baseball" games in which fielders could put a runner out by hitting
> him with the ball. Imposing our definitions of convenience back onto the
> 18th and 19th centuries blurs the game's historical evolution.

Now, now -- I said "without a caveat". And to most authorities, that rule
change is "where the modern game of baseball, as distinct from rounders,
was invented".>>

And here I thought that writing "Back when baseball fielders could put out
a runner by hitting him with a thrown ball" was enough of a warning that I
was discussing back when baseball fielders could put out a runner by
hitting him with a thrown ball.

My reading on this subject (for a project unrelated to Oz) has led me to
think that rounders was never an organized game like baseball or its main
ante-bellum rival, town ball (a/k/a the Massachusetts game). I get the
impression that people used "rounders" as a catch-all term for a variety of
bat-ball-and-bases/posts games, many of them improvised on the spot based
on the players and field available. The Knickerbockers' decision to
standardize the dimensions of what came to be called the "infield" seems
more important to the development of modern baseball than the rule against
"soaking" runners. Only with a standard field did it become possible for
the stats of two separate games to be aggregated and compared.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Wed Jan 2, 2002  12:53 pm
Subject:  OJO spine

Speaking of reusing elements of Oz cover art, with PURPLE PRINCE and OJO
we've entered the period when Reilly & Lee stopped having Neill draw a
character (usually each book's title character) to be printed on the spine
and instead traced that person's head and shoulders from the front label.
This generally produced less pleasing spine art but saved the cost or labor
of one entire sketch!

Exceptions were CAPTAIN SALT, which showed the CRESCENT MOON under sail;
the two Snow books; MERRY GO ROUND; and SILVER PRINCESS, which exceeded all
previous levels of R&L stinginess by reusing the spine illustration of
Handy Mandy from the previous book.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <DinnerBell at t...>
Date:  Wed Jan 2, 2002  3:33 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO miscellany

J. L. Bell:
> Similarly, later we learn about a "small war between the Grigs and
>Twigs of South Mountain" [189-90], and all we're told about these folks is
>that the Scarecrow thinks of Ojo as "as lively as a Grig" [191].

The Twigs might be related to the trees that tormented Kabumpo and his
friends in KABUMPO. There was no indication of those Twigs living on a
mountain, but they could very well inhabit other parts of Oz. In WISHING
HORSE, Dorothy and Pigasus gain entrance to the Nome Kingdom through South
Mountain, but I am assuming this is a different South Mountain.

Nathan

From:  "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne at a...>
Date:  Wed Jan 2, 2002  3:59 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OFF TOPIC: soaked him good

"J. L. Bell" wrote:
> My reading on this subject (for a project unrelated to Oz) has led me to
> think that rounders was never an organized game like baseball or its main
> ante-bellum rival, town ball (a/k/a the Massachusetts game). I get the
> impression that people used "rounders" as a catch-all term for a variety of
> bat-ball-and-bases/posts games, many of them improvised on the spot based
> on the players and field available.

There is (or was) organized Rounders in England. The most damning piece
of evidence that Spalding knew the Doubleday story to be false is that
he had actually played a game of organized rounders on a trip to
England.

--
John W. Kennedy
"Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays"
-- Charles Williams

From:  "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne at a...>
Date:  Wed Jan 2, 2002  9:10 pm
Subject:  Re: [Nonestica] OJO miscellany

"J. L. Bell" wrote:
> Similarly, later we learn about a "small war between the Grigs and
> Twigs of South Mountain" [189-90], and all we're told about these folks is
> that the Scarecrow thinks of Ojo as "as lively as a Grig" [191].

I don't know that it means much of anything.

LUDWIG
For this will be a jolly Court, for little and for big!  ALL.
Sing hey, the jolly jinks of Pfennig Halbpfennig!
LUDWIG
From morn to night our lives shall be as merry as a grig!
ALL.
Sing hey, the jolly jinks of Pfennig Halbpfennig!
LUDWIG
All state and ceremony we'll eternally abolish-
We don't mean to insist upon unnecessary polish-
And, on the whole, I rather think you'll find our rule tollolish!
ALL.
Sing hey, the jolly jinks of Pfennig Halbpfennig!

--
John W. Kennedy
"Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays"
-- Charles Williams

From:  David Hulan <davidhulan at n...>
Date:  Wed Jan 2, 2002  11:49 pm
Subject:  Grigs

J.L.:
> Similarly, later we learn about a "small war between the Grigs and
>Twigs of South Mountain" [189-90], and all we're told about these folks is
>that the Scarecrow thinks of Ojo as "as lively as a Grig" [191].

I think this is probably a reference to the old English expression
"merry as a grig," "grig" in this context meaning
"cricket."

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Thu Jan 3, 2002  1:26 pm
Subject:  OJO queer Dicks

Ruth Berman wrote:
<<A strong indication of nonstandard sexuality (perhaps cross-dressing
rather than homosexuality as such) is that what is queer about the Dick's
hat band is that it is a girl's sash.>>

If the gatekeeping Dick were wearing it as a sash, that would indeed be
telling. But he's using it in an unusual and therefore non-gendered way.
His hat band would be just as queer if it were a sock, or a bow tie, or a
piece of linguine. (Indeed, we have to wonder how Scraps recognizes the
sash as a girl's--color? gauziness?) Though some of the other Dicks dress
oddly, none seems to be wearing clothes associated with women. Indeed, the
high stiff collar of the next Dick and the dictator's military uniform are
gendered masculine.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

From:  "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at m...>
Date:  Mon Jan 7, 2002  3:54 pm
Subject:  ADULT: hatbands in oz

J. L. Bell wrote: "If the gatekeeping Dick were wearing it [his hatband] as
a sash, that would indeed be telling. But he's using it in an unusual and
therefore non-gendered way. His hat band would be just as queer if it were a
sock, or a bow tie, or a piece of linguine. (Indeed, we have to wonder how
Scraps recognizes the sash as a girl's--color? gauziness?) Though some of
the other Dicks dress oddly, none seems to be wearing clothes associated
with women. Indeed, the high stiff collar of the next Dick and the
dictator's military uniform are gendered masculine."

The other queer Dicks don't seem to be "queer" in the sense of "homosexual,"
but the Dick with the queer hatband does seem to be signalling something
about his sexuality in a way that a hatband made of a sock or a bowtie or a
piece of linguine would not do -- precisely because the narrative takes note
of the sash as being a girl's sash. If Thompson hadn't meant to signal
anything at all about his sexuality, she could have called it a sock or a
bowtie or piece of linguine or even just "a sash." Having the narrative
describe it as specifically a "girl's" sash is the more striking because, as
you imply, there is no particular way to tell whether a long strip of fabric
on a hat would be a sash such as a contemporary woman might wear (to belt a
dress, for example) or such as a contemporary man might wear (over the
shoulder as a badge of office, for example). I'm inclined to suspect that
Thompson didn't know precisely what the phrase "queer as Dick's hatband" had
come to mean by her time, but that she did have a general idea that it meant
some kind of "unmanliness" and wouldn't have described the hatband as a
"girl's" sash if the phrase didn't have some kind of connotation of
"girlishness" for her.

Neill, by the way, has a fine color plate of the character, with his sash
billowing up into the wind in a way that doesn't (I think) have any
particular sexual suggestiveness, but does have the exuberant twistiness of
several of his illos for the book.

Ruth Berman

From:  "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at c...>
Date:  Mon Feb 18, 2002  7:01 pm
Subject:  Dick's hatband

Given our recent discussion of the Dick with the Queer Hatband, I thought
some Nonestica subscribers might be interested in this extract on the
original phrase from an electronic newsletter about words from Britain.

J. L. Bell JnoLBell at c...

--------------- Forwarded Message ---------------
Date: 16 Feb 2002, 3:37 AM
RE: World Wide Words -- 16 Feb 02
WORLD WIDE WORDS ISSUE 276 Saturday 16 February 2002
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