“This book was a fun way to go through the entire musical Wicked from a sociological point of view. The book was fun and was a quick read. Really love Wicked the Musical, and this accompanied it well. It did remind me how mean people are in high school and how easily people are drawn to the popular ones and swayed into being less than nice to people who may be different than you. I would recommend this book to any sociologist ( like me) who also saw Wicked the Musical. I cannot imagine someone wh ... More

“Your use of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Wicked" to illsutrate looking at a situation from the "other's" perspective was easy to understand and very effective. ”

“Hi! I was in Barnes & Noble the other day and saw your book in the Performing Arts/Theatre section. I couldn't resist buying it then and there (I had planned to buy it online but couldn't wait). Anyway, I spent two days reading it cover to cover. I must say, THANK YOU for bringing to light so many complex social, political, theological, and other issues. What a great book! ”

“Author finds "Wicked" inspiration The story of the two witches of Oz has been passed along for more than a century. Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West now have two stories, one where good and evil are clearly defined while the other blurs those boundaries. Suzanne Ross, a Glenview author and director of Christian education at the First Congregational Church of Wilmette, has written a book that addresses the concepts of good and evil as presented in the musical "Wicked." Ross, w ... More

“Up here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts where the Salem Witch Trials took place, the word "wicked" has acquired unique status and use. Instead of being the equivalent of evil, "wicked" has become an intensifier, a word that could more literally be translated as "extremely" when used as an adjective. When my eldest left for college in Pennsylvania, she was quickly identified as being from Massachusetts due to this habit of speech. It's the sort of thing that isn't noted so much in its absenc ... More

“Among the many hundreds the books and articles devoted to the exploration of mimetic theory, there exists a class of “How to” or User manuals whose interest is to bring René GIRARD’s ideas outside the classroom and back down to street and living room level, to where humans interact with one another in utterly commonplace circumstances that mostly comprise our daily lives. This remains the theory’s richest terrain, being, after all, where the novelists and playwrights who have informed GIRARD’s t ... More

“It is a rare privilege as an artist to have one’s work explored in such a profound way. The Wicked Truth is a fascinating and valuable study of the ways we all wrestle with the wickedness within and without us and how we can combat it. ”

“By guiding the reader through the deeper messages of the hit Broadway play, “The Wicked”, Suzanne Ross is able to reveal how it is that good people may sometimes commit treacherous acts and justify them as acts of righteousness. She shows how easy it is to scapegoat innocent victims so that we may feel better about ourselves. In the process, she offers an antidote for all potential scapegoat victims: Your being is not subject to the approval of your victimizers; rather, it is a gracious gift giv ... More