Ron's Info-Closet Annex

A redundancy? Not necessarily. "The Emerald City" has long been a nickname for Seattle. This post will tell you where to get the Oz books relatively cheaply in Seattle, and some other places if you have the misfortune not to live here. :)

Half Price Books is your dear, dear friend. As of early 2004, you can pick up all 14 of the L. Frank Baum Oz books by hitting various Half Price Books locations in the Seattle area. Each book is $4.98, so a complete set will cost you about $70 plus tax. At present, there are nine stores in metro-Seattle. The new Capital Hill store on Belmont Avenue seems to have the widest selection, but you will probably have to visit more than one store to get all the books. The editions being remaindered, by the way, are published by a company calling itself "For Your Knowledge" or "Mundus". (The company seems to have changed its name at one point; the books published under one name do not differ in any significant way from those published under the other.) These are hefty trade paperbacks -- not quite Dover quality, but I have no complaints at $5 apiece.

Half Price Books has stores in Arizona, California, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (of course), Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin as well, so if you live in those states, you may also be in luck. Unfortunately, they seem to have discontinued web orders.

If you do want Dover-quality paperbacks, the Elliott Bay Book Company in Pioneer Square has most or all of the Baum Oz books in Dover editions. They cost twice as much as the Mundus/For Your Knowledge editions, but that's still only $10 or so, and they will last you the rest of your life. Alternatively, order the Dover editions directly from Dover.

The University of Washington Bookstore has half a dozen of the Mundus/For Your Knowledge editions, plus remaindered copies of the Centennial Edition of the Annotated Wizard of Oz for about $10. This book from 2000 is well worth making a special trip for. The UW Bookstore also has several of the Dover editions, and they sometimes stock Edward Einhorn's influential Paradox in Oz. (It's where I got my copy.)

If you don't care much about illustrations, you can find all 14 of the Baum Oz books at the Online Books Page and then some, in free ebook form. Share and Enjoy!

If none of these options suit you, try ordering Oz books from Powell's, which has an incredible variety of them, new and used.
You'll support this site if you order via the link I just gave you. SURRENDER AMAZON!