Wicked

A couple of years ago, I got Wicked as a birthday gift. I've finally decided to pick it up and read it for this book club. I've read the first fourteen pages and I don't think I'm going to get any further. The stuff in those fourteen pages are gross. The whole bit with the clock sounds like something out of The Aristocrats. (I didn't get through that movie either.) The discussion of the witch's orientation among the Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow is bizarre and irrelevant. It's bizarre because I already have preconceived idea of these characters from the original film version of Wizard of Oz. That idea doesn't involve discussing the witch's orientation. Seriously, why is the book so popular? Does the musical include any of this? I'm so confused.