<p id=”par-1_53″>One of the most prominent literary <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/celebrity/”>celebrities</a> to come out of the 1990s was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gregory-maguire-wrote-wicked-prequel.html/”><em>Wicked </em>author Gregory Maguire</a>. Interestingly, Maguire wrote it so he didn’t feel like a “call boy.” <em>Wicked </em>had a tremendous impact on his life as a writer. It also changed pop culture in ways that we all still feel.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-gregory-maguire-wrote-wicked-because-he-needed-his-own-sense-of-dignity”>Gregory Maguire wrote ‘Wicked’ because he needed his own ‘sense of dignity’</h2>
<p id=”par-2_77″>No modern writer gets classic fairy tales quite like Maguire. He’s most famous for the <em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/does-a-pink-floyd-album-work-as-a-soundtrack-for-the-wizard-of-oz.html/”>Wizard of Oz</a></em> reimagining <em>Wicked</em>, which became the basis for the Broadway musical of the same name and its movie adaptation. He also penned books based on<em> </em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/wicked-author-gregory-maguire-prefers-alice-in-wonderland-the-wizard-of-oz.html/”><em>Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</em> (<em>After Alice</em>)</a>, “Snow White” (<em>Mirror, Mirror</em>), “Cinderella” (<em>Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister</em>), and <em>A Christmas Carol</em> (<em>Lost</em>). While he’s a best-selling author now, Maguire was once in a difficult financial position. </p>
<p id=”par-3_84″>During a 2015 interview with <a href=”https://www.vice.com/en/article/wicked-authors-new-take-on-alice-in-wonderland-shows-why-adult-men-are-dumb/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Vice</a>, Maguire discussed the origins of <em>Wicked</em>. “I was living in England with my then-boyfriend and the laws of my visa did not allow me to go out and work at a bookstore or a hamburger shop or anything,” he recalled. “So I didn’t have much money, and I didn’t like being supported like a call boy or something. I really needed to work for my own sense of dignity, and I needed to pay my own bills, etc.”</p>
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<iframe title=”Wicked – Official Trailer” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/6COmYeLsz4c?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-why-gregory-maguire-felt-like-he-had-to-write-the-book-when-he-turned-39″>Why Gregory Maguire felt like he had to write the book when he turned 39</h2>
<p id=”par-4_41″>Maguire took a long time to bring his idea to fruition. “I had had the idea for <em>Wicked</em> a couple of years earlier, but I hadn’t really thought I was old enough to write it,” he said. “Then I turned 39. </p>
<p id=”par-5_74″>“The day I turned 39, I was one day older than my mother had ever been [when she died young],” he added. “I thought, ‘If I’m now older than my mother who died at 38, then I must be a grown-up, I must be able to do grown-up work. I’m gonna put aside writing stories for children and write a story for adults, even if it looks on the outside like a children’s story.’”</p>
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<iframe loading=”lazy” title=’Defying Gravity (From “Wicked” Original Broadway Cast Recording/2003 / Lyric Video)’ width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/l0Bs_eaXaCo?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/wicked-author-gregory-maguire-said-oz-1-country.html/”>
‘Wicked’ Author Gregory Maguire Said Oz Is Similar to 1 Country </a>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-real-legacy-of-wicked-extends-far-beyond-broadway”>The real legacy of ‘Wicked’ extends far beyond Broadway</h2>
<p id=”par-6_55″>Maguire thought that, perhaps, <em>Wicked </em>would gain a cult following among nerds going to college. He hoped the book would pay his rent and grant him “a little personal dignity.” However, he didn’t think that <em>Wicked </em>would become part of popular culture, make him famous, or give him enough notoriety to continue writing for decades.</p>
<p id=”par-7_104″>While <em>Wicked </em>inspired a hit musical and a hit movie, its real impact is more profound than that. After the book came out, it’s been common for popular culture to portray famous villains in a more flattering light. Since <em>Wicked </em>hit bookshelves in 1995, we’ve had sympathetic reimaginings of Darth Vader (the <em>Star Wars</em> prequels), Michael Myers (Rob Zombie’s two <em>Halloween </em>movies), and Maleficent from <em>Sleeping Beauty</em> (<em>Maleficent </em>and <em>Maleficent: Mistress of Evil</em>). In fact, most villains in live-action Disney remakes tend to be a little nicer than they were the first time around. That might not have happened without the success of <em>Wicked</em>.</p>
<p id=”par-8_23″><em>Wicked </em>became one of the most influential books of the 1990s — and it helped Maguire feel like less of a call boy.</p>