American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

In this episode I review the first half of STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein and discuss all of the "History and Moral Philosophy" sections and the claims often made about Heinlein's politics. In the next episode I will discuss the rest of the book and its legacy.

The conclusion to my review of James Baldwin's GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN. This delightful and rich book is worth a look or two. Let me know what you thought of it.

With this episode we close the book on the Robert A. Heinlein juveniles, so in addition to reviewing HAVE SPACE SUIT, WILL TRAVEL, I give my overall ranking of the 12 Scribner novels. There are only 15 works (13 novels and 2 short stories) left and I could not be more excited to jump into his works of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

In this episode I begin my look at James Baldwin with his first novel GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN. It the first half of this novel, we can already sense Baldwin's unique contribution to African-American literature.

In the quasi-fantasy story "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" (1957) Heinlein wrote a sentimental tale about America, journeys, and a man getting what he deserves in the afterlife.

"Menace from Earth" by Robert A. Heinlein is a teenage romance, set on the Moon that builds on the themes explored in the excellent stories collected in THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH.

The finale of my review of THE OUTSIDER by Richard Wright and the end of my examination of the works of Richard Wright. Our next series will be a long one, looking at the works of James Baldwin. 

My frustration with THE OUSIDER by Richard Wright grows a bit as I read Part 4 (Despair). Cross Damon does another murder and is trying to avoid arrest for his crimes but still has time for long debates on Communism and Fascism. 

Every once in a while I lose myself in a book. Not that I get engaged so the rest of the world passes by. Sometimes, I actually get lost and am not sure where the book or its characters are going. As I explore part 3 of THE OUTSIDER by Richard Wright I experience this. And I am not sure Wright is going to help me find the theme.

In this rather long episode I explore Heinlein' excellent novel THE DOOR INTO SUMMER. This book seems to be about a deterministic time travel loop, but it is really about our relationship to technology, each other, and work. Oh, and the main character gets engaged to a child and gaslights her into going into deep freeze so he can marry her while she is still young and hot. Not one of our author's best moments.