American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

My review of Heinlein's 1941 story "Universe". While the first part of the story later published as ORPHANS OF THE SKY stands on its own, only with the sequel "Common Sense," do we find a darker more pessimistic truth about the necessity of stability.

The finale of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain. In the final chapters of this book Mark Twain moves on from Nevada to California and spends half a year in Hawaii. Is this a break from the earlier narrative or just part of a larger story of American empire?

"Magic, Inc." is a fascinating novella by Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1940. It explores issues such as union power, technology, law, corruption, and industrial production, while also trying to take magic seriously by placing it in our world. It is worth checking out for the richness of the themes.

After failing as a silver prospector, Mark Twain took up journalism. He discusses his early days on the beat in ROUGHING IT (1872). I discuss this and other issues as I dig deeper in my review of this autobiographical book.

In part 2 of my review of ROUGHING IT by Mark Twain, I find some of the most important commentary and observations on the betrayals at the heart of the ideology of democratic capitalism, and clues as to why the West was so quickly tamed by capital, big business, and government (later the military-industrial complex). Is there any future to an economy built on speculation?

In "They", published in 1941, Robert A. Heinlein takes on issues I am more used to talking about in my series on Philip K. Dick: conspiracy, shifting realities, and paranoia. Mostly, I take on the question of the utility of conspiracy theories and express my distaste for the solipsism of the extremely based. But I cannot not recommend this story to Heinlein readers. It has its value.

In this episode, I begin my look at one of my favorite Mark Twain books, ROUGHING IT (1872), an autobiographical exploration of life in the West in the the decades before it was tamed. The early pages deal with the stagecoach ride to Nevada and the myths that develop on the road.

In this episode, I take a short look at a very short Heinlein story, "Successful Operation". It can be read a couple of ways and I am happy with both.

In this episode, I finish up my study of INNOCENTS ABROAD by Mark Twain. There are so many layers to this book, the best I can so is lay them out and reflect on what I find most powerful: the relationship between a young nation and the deep past.

"Solution Unsatisfactory", published in 1940, is my favorite of the early Heinlein stories I have been exploring. It explores the consequences of the introduction of weapons of mass destruction to the world, the result being an reluctant American hegemony.