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Stranger in a Strange Land was on a reading list for one of my son's freshman high school classes this year. I dug out my copy of it for him to read but also told him I was amazed it was on the list. (We're talking El Paso here; big time Hispanic/Catholic population.) After he finished the book, he understood what I meant.

But he liked the book.

Hard to believe Heinlein ever flirted with Democratic politics. Guess it proves we're all stupid when we're young. (I have long believed that humans, as a species, are stupid.)

Farnham's Freehold, Time Enough for Love, Job, Number of the Beast, the "juveniles" Glory Road, Rolling Stones, Podkayne of Mars, Door Into Summer, the short stories like There Was a Crooked Man...

I think I've got everything he ever published (wore out 2 paperback copies of Time Enough and had a hardcover copy stolen).

Heinlein wrote about real people, people who were willing to stand on their own two feet, people who had character (even if it was laced with "rational self-interest").

Of course, he was also pretty good at goring sacred cows, whether it was religion, politics or societal norms. His art, here, was that he didn't beat you over the head with it. Instead, he made you think and examine, within the context of the story.

At the same time, he claimed he didn't write what he did for ideological reasons but, rather, simply to sell and make money. Perhaps.

There were, and are, other good writers out there, depending on your particular tastes (Drake for military fiction, Dickson, early Norton, Janifer for his humor, both the Robinsons {but particularly Spider}...and mustn't forget Moorcock, given my screen name).

There was only one Robert Anson Heinlein.

</maudlin sappiness>