Tik-Tok of Oz
1964
In which L. Frank Baum does something he had never done before: he makes Dorothy unnecessary. The seventh door to Oz opens for Betsy Bobbin, an Oklahoma girl washed ashore in the Rose Kingdom, and she brings absolutely nothing to the adventure but courage and good humor. Meanwhile, in the forgotten kingdom of Oogaboo, Queen Ann Soforth has a problem familiar to conquerors throughout history: she has ambition but only eighteen men. Her plan to take over all of Oz simply because it seems like it should be easy sets off a chain of events involving magic shoes, a resentful Nome King, and the Shaggy Man searching for his stolen brother. The clockwork wonder Tik-Tok runs down and winds up throughout, the roses speak in riddles, and Baum's legendary puns fly fast enough to constitute a contact sport. This is Oz at its most gleefully absurd: a world where an army of eighteen can matter, where machines have souls, and where a girl from nowhere becomes the hero simply by refusing to give up. The first Oz book to center a protagonist other than Dorothy remains one of the strangest and most joyful.
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“One can be ugly in looks, but lovely in disposition.””
— L. Frank Baum
“If we didn't want anything, we would never get anything, good or bad. I think our longings are natural, and if we act as nature prompts us we can't go far wrong.””
— L. Frank Baum
“One would think, to look at him, that he ought to be jolly; one might think, considering his enormous wealth, that he ought to be happy; but this was not the case.””
— L. Frank Baum
“I wouldn't be surprised if Ruggedo melted Tik-Tok in one of his furnaces and made copper pennies of him." "In that case, I would still keep going," remarked Tik-Tok, calmly. "Pennies do," said Betsy regretfully.””
— L. Frank Baum
“So you see, Your Majesty, it is not in good taste to sneer at a dragon.””
— L. Frank Baum
“we didn't want anything, we would never get anything, good or bad. I think our longings are natural, and if we act as nature prompts us we can't go far wrong.””
— L. Frank Baum
“Nails and nuggets!" roared the King; "how dare you bring that beast here and enter my presence unannounced?" "There wasn't anybody to announce me," replied Betsy. "I guess your folks were all busy. Are you conquered yet?" "No!" shouted the King, almost beside himself with rage.””
— L. Frank Baum
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Baum, L. Frank. Tik-Tok of Oz. Lex, lex-books.com/book/tik-tok-of-oz-f6c2ed6c-85fb-4a23-8cfb-29ceb0572bbb.Baum, L. F. (1964). Tik-Tok of Oz. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/tik-tok-of-oz-f6c2ed6c-85fb-4a23-8cfb-29ceb0572bbbBaum, L. Frank. Tik-Tok of Oz. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/tik-tok-of-oz-f6c2ed6c-85fb-4a23-8cfb-29ceb0572bbb.
