Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in His Own Land, Vol. 1 Book

Recieved as a bonus with an online purchase, this slim volume (55 pages) is from The Milford Series: Popular Writers of Today. Published in 1976, the analyses included of Heinlein's work end with the publication of Time Enough for Love. The book compares and contrasts several of Heinlein's earlier works (Double Star, Time for the Stars, Methelusah's Children and, of course, Stranger in a Strange Land) as well as Time Enough for Love to each other and to Heinlein's overall body of work to that point. While many of the opinions expressed by Mr. Slusser are not new to me, I found the overall tone of the essays so overwhelmingly negative that it was difficlut to even finish reading each chapter. Heinlein was not a great writer. His ideas were often not very well thought out and were presented in a grating manner in many of his books. All of this is true and Mr. Slusser explicates these points interminably. Unfortunately, in not a single instance does he address why Heinlein was so popular throughout his career, even as the quality of his writing continued to nosedive as he neared the end of his life. A more balanced view of the works reviewed would have made for a more enjoyable and illuminating read.