THE REAL WIZARD OF OZ: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF L. FRANK BAUM by Rebecca Loncraine, 2009.

An articulate account of a quite fascinating and lively American writer, the creator of the Wizard of Oz stories. Born and raised in New York State, but resided in such far flung areas as South Dakota, Chicago, and Hollywood, Lyman Frank Baum was one of a large and somewhat unconventional family. This biography, by an English scholar, pulls together the varied facets of Baum's life as an actor, playwright, storekeeper, oilman, salesman, and author--a life of failures and successes, fortunes and bankruptcy--and presents them in an easy to follow narrative. She has taken available research and made use of several special collections of Baum material in writing this account, and manages to show how different pieces of Baum's life truly affected his writing of the Oz stories as well as other works--he wrote other series and novels under at least half a dozen other names in the course of his career. His marriage to Maud Gage, daughter of a prominent feminist, and the raising of the four sons is covered in depth. The author is very good with her descriptions of  major influences on Baum--the bleak Dakota prairies, the Native American troubles of the West (Wounded Knee took place during Baum's residence in Dakota), family issues with various siblings and relatives, the Civil War veterans, and how he incorporated many of these things into his stories. Loncraine also dispels several of the myths concerning Baum--for instance, the name "Oz" was not taken from his filing cabinet as has been told before, but actually sprang from his own imagination during the writing of the original story.
  I would recommend this for anyone who's a fan of the Oz series or movie, or as simply a good popular biography of a fascinating individual who in fact created the first wholly American fairy tale.