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A review by saroz162
The Land of Oz by Tim Hollis
4.0
This thin little volume is essentially a photo gallery between two paperback covers—or, if you like, a budget-conscious coffee table book. It takes about an hour to read, at most, and almost every page contains a couple of large photographs or, in later sections, a scan of an ad, brochure, sign, or map. You might think of it is being like one of those photo books they sell in a visitors center or gift shop that includes a couple hundred photos of local town history.
Fortunately, for what it is, it's really quite nice. Almost all of the photographs are in color, which is great from the perspective of historical preservation. It can also be useful just to help define what's happening in the picture; these are mostly 1970-era shots, and they usually aren't from the idealized angles we can manage with our smartphones fifty years hence. Lack of light is a problem in a couple of pictures, but more often, it's simply a combination of distance and (lack of) focus. "Oh, that's a mouse costume?" you say to yourself. "Okay, then..."
Happily, author Tim Hollis clearly knows what he's talking about, and the pictures are accompanied by nice, chunky captions (as well as a two-page text introduction). I knew some vague details about the Land of Oz theme park before I started the book, but Hollis helped to throw it all into a much tighter chronological cause-and-effect progression. I knew Debbie Reynolds had been there to open the park on its first day, but no real clue why; I knew the park had become derelict around 1980, with no clear understanding why; and I knew that the costumes had, at some point, changed to something a little less homemade/nightmarish, again, without knowing what precipitated that change. All of those things I understand much better now.
The heart of the book really is in the original Oz park, 1970-75. The 1976-80 iteration, after the big fire (spoiler!), is given comparatively short shrift, and the modern incarnation of the park as a special event every summer and fall is only mentioned three or four times. I think if you're looking for a lot of detail on either of these topics, you'll need to keep looking. Hollis' interest is firmly on taking you through the history of the mark 1 Land of Oz theme park, and as such, his book succeeds well.
Fortunately, for what it is, it's really quite nice. Almost all of the photographs are in color, which is great from the perspective of historical preservation. It can also be useful just to help define what's happening in the picture; these are mostly 1970-era shots, and they usually aren't from the idealized angles we can manage with our smartphones fifty years hence. Lack of light is a problem in a couple of pictures, but more often, it's simply a combination of distance and (lack of) focus. "Oh, that's a mouse costume?" you say to yourself. "Okay, then..."
Happily, author Tim Hollis clearly knows what he's talking about, and the pictures are accompanied by nice, chunky captions (as well as a two-page text introduction). I knew some vague details about the Land of Oz theme park before I started the book, but Hollis helped to throw it all into a much tighter chronological cause-and-effect progression. I knew Debbie Reynolds had been there to open the park on its first day, but no real clue why; I knew the park had become derelict around 1980, with no clear understanding why; and I knew that the costumes had, at some point, changed to something a little less homemade/nightmarish, again, without knowing what precipitated that change. All of those things I understand much better now.
The heart of the book really is in the original Oz park, 1970-75. The 1976-80 iteration, after the big fire (spoiler!), is given comparatively short shrift, and the modern incarnation of the park as a special event every summer and fall is only mentioned three or four times. I think if you're looking for a lot of detail on either of these topics, you'll need to keep looking. Hollis' interest is firmly on taking you through the history of the mark 1 Land of Oz theme park, and as such, his book succeeds well.