Bestseller from Last Month
For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs
by Robert A. Heinlein
Scribner
ISBN: 074325998X
The publication of this book is somewhat of an event in SF
publishing. This is Robert Heinlein's very first novel, which was not
published in 1939 at least partly because it was a little risque for
the time. Heinlein's subsequent towering career produced a body of
science fiction that reflects many of the themes he first explored in
this work. It's the story of Perry Nelson, who gets knocked out in a
car accident and wakes up in the Utopian society of 2086. He's taken
under the wing of the beautiful Diana and proceeds to work through
his culture shock as he learns all about how that society works. You
know, it kind of sounds like "Futurama." The plot conceit lets
Heinlein explore social mores, economics, technology, and all the
cultural baggage that goes with his imaginary future. The book is not
perfect, sometimes reading like a cobbled collection of lectures
loosely held together by a plot. It would be some years yet before
Heinlein achieved his pinnacle in books like
Stranger in a Strange Land and
Time Enough for Love". Despite its shortcomings, the horde of
Heinlein fans will find this book a must read, and on the whole a
satisfying and amusing one at that. [AB]
