SOURCE: Anderson, Celia Catlett. “The Comedians of Oz.” Studies in American Humor 5, no. 4 (winter 1986-87): 229-42.

In the following essay, Anderson explores humor in Baum's Oz books.

L. Frank Baum was a humorist. Most readers agree with Russel B. Nye that “Oz is a land of laughter” (164),¹ but commentators show less agreement about the nature of Baum's humor. Those most interested in the sociological underpinnings of Oz emphasize satire and parody as main ingredients. Those comparing him to Lewis Carroll or Edward Lear discuss the quantity and quality of Baum's reversals, incongruities, and wordplay. Those concerned with the connections between the author's life and his work find strong traces of vaudeville. In his article “Utopia, Allegory, and Nightmare,” Ben Indick includes Freudian criticism in the list of approaches to Baum's work and laments that when reading the various analyses of Oz, “One is reminded of the fable of...