Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (1907-1988), was born in Butler, Missouri, to a German-American family with generations of military service in it. He became one of the most celebrated and influential science fiction writers of the 20th Century. A US Naval Academy graduate with engineering training, he brought to the wild-west-type field of science fiction of the pulp era a rigorous scientific mind and a temperment to question all assumptions of the genre, of society, and of human history and of the human future.
Upon medical discharge from the Navy in 1934, he turned to several pursuits, finally ending up writing with a first short story publication in 1939. Initially, he was one of the stable of writers of the legendary editor of Astounding, John W. Campbell, Jr., but Heinlein was too independent a spirit to follow an editor — he would always rather blaze new trails. Professional and financial security came with an epic series of so-called “juveniles” written for about 10 years from the late Forties to the late Fifties. These transformed themselves into sophisticated cultural critiques from Starship Troopers (1959) and Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) onwards.
He brought the verbal gymnastics of George Bernard Shaw and the adventurous pace of Rudyard Kipling to a pulp genre struggling for self-confidence and literary legitimacy. Whatever his provocations (and there are many for his readers from all backgrounds), he raised the standard of great speculative fiction. A tip on beginning Heinlein: begin with the early novels, even the excellent juveniles, plunge into those written in the Sixties, and then tackle the big ambitious novels of his late period. Enjoy the ride!
To Sail Beyond the Sunset [Secondhand Copy]
To Sail Beyond the Sunset [Secondhand Copy]
SECONDHAND COPY. GOOD CONDITION. TIGHT BINDING. SPINE IS WELL-CREASED BY EARLIER READING. NO MARKS.
Maureen Johnson, the somewhat irregular mother of Lazarus Long, wakes up in bed with a man and a cat. The cat is Pixel, well-known to fans of the New York Times bestseller The Cat Who Walks through Walls. The man is a stranger to her, and besides that, he is dead.
So begins Robert A. Heinlein’s To Sail beyond the Sunset. Filled with the master’s most beloved characters, this compelling work broadens and enriches his epic vision of time and space, life and death, love and desire. It is also an autobiographical masterpiece—and a wondrous return to the alternate universes that all Heinlein fans have come to know and love.
“Admirably successful…The autobiographical material is consistently superb. The alternate universes are equally well done…The sexuality shows the lusty pleasure in smashing taboos familiar to readers of Stranger in a Strange Land.” —Chicago Sun-Times
“A family reunion for Heinlein’s characters…a well-attended gathering.” —Houston Post
“A tour de force…In a strange and moving way, To Sail beyond the Sunset may be the finest work in the dean’s lengthy career!” —Kansas City Star
“Exuberant and spirited…unquestionably one of the major, defining works of Robert A. Heinlein’s long and successful career.” —San Jose Mercury News
“Thought-provoking…Considerable wit and energy!” —Newsday
“Absorbing and involving!” —Kirkus Reviews
“In To Sail beyond the Sunset, Heinlein continues to assemble most, if not all, the characters he has ever created…Heinlein’s voice and his prose are stronger and fresher than they have been in some time…He remains the master!” —Locus