The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum, written by Rebecca Loncraine, published by Gotham Books, 2009.

L. Frank Baum was the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which was first published in 1900. The title was later changed to The Wizard of Oz both for the silent film adaption of 1925 as well as the M-G-M classic of 1939. The author, Rebecca Loncraine, has written a meticulously researched biography which explores the artistic and spiritual influences which inspired Baum to create a prolific literary legacy including 14 Oz novels, 32 additional books under the name L. Frank Baum, 33 books published anonymously or under a pen name, and 8 plays, as well as miscellaneous stories, poems and journalism articles.

Baum, known as "Frankie" to his family, was born in Chittenango, New York in 1856. When he was five years old, his family moved to Syracuse, where his father became the president of a Syracuse bank. When "Frankie" was twelve years old, his father sent him to the Peekskill Military Academy but "Frankie" disliked the discipline and returned home to finish school. He also acquired a child's printing press and, with the assistance of his younger brother, Harry, printed the Rose Lawn Home Journal which included scary stories, jokes and poems. Following the 1873 economic crisis, the family home was put up for sale and Baum worked for the family business until he left Syracuse and headed for New York City where he tried his hand at acting. When he returned to Syracuse during Christmas of 1881, Baum met Maud Gage and the couple were married at the Gage family home in 1882.

In 1888, Baum, Maud and their two sons, Frank and Robert, looking for a fresh start, moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota. Baum opened Baum's Bazaar and acquired the Dakota Pioneer which he renamed the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. Soon thereafter the Baum family welcomed a third son named Harry. But Aberdeen didn't work out and, in 1891, Baum and the family, which now included Kenneth, a fourth son, moved to Chicago. While in Chicago, Baum worked as a traveling salesman and also developed a successful advertising magazine titled The Show Window. In 1897, Baum published Mother Goose in Prose, a children's book. Then in 1898, Baum came up with the idea of a child who visits the Land of Oz. Although the story setting was Kansas, what stimulated Baum's imagination was the memories of his time in the Dakotas—"the land of violent storms."

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900. Baum then wrote the script for the musical adaption titled The Wizard of Oz which premiered at the Grand Opera House in Chicago in 1902. He and Maud then moved to Hollywood in 1910 where Baum continued to write books about the Land of Oz. Baum's health began steadily deteriorating in 1915 and, following complications from gall bladder surgery, he died in the presence of Maud on May 6, 1919. Both L. Frank Baum and his wife, Maud, are buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.