The author of this article and I have something in common:
Emboldened by boredom, I decided to venture around the wall that separated the kid’s books from the library proper. As fate would have it, the science fiction paperbacks were just around that corner and I pulled out three or four before a cover caught my eye. It was Heinlein’s Friday, the one with the Michael Whelan illustration of the buxom butt-kicking sex-kitten on the cover. I read the first 50 pages while leaning against the shelves and ignored the raised eyebrows of the librarian as she scanned it and my card. In the intervening 25-ish years, I’ve read it 20 times at least. This story of a genetically engineered galactic courier is like comfort food to me. Despite my adult interpretations (and, honestly, misgivings about) of some of the larger Heinlein canon, I own every last book the man wrote. Plus, I can’t turn my back on Friday. She was my first — and best.
Friday did it for me, too. Everyone once in a while I see a model or actress whose face and figure remind me of the lovely Friday.
2 responses so far ↓
1 James Heckman // Feb 16, 2006 at 4:54 pm
I discovered Heinlein by accident when I was seven years old. I was searching for an illustrated version of Homer’s “Odyssey” when I encountered a mis-sheleved copy of “Space Cadet.” I was aware of the existence of science fiction through television and movies, and knew that rockets, missiles and satellites were being developed, but – other than a vague knowledge about someone named H.G.Wells – had no idea that there was an litrary genre that dealt with science, technology and society in the future. Well, the book’s cover – midnight blue with a gigantic finned ovoid of a spaceship ready for launch – looked interesting, so I added it to the books I wanted to take home.
Once I’d finished “Space Cadet,” I was hooked. I read everything I could lay my hands on by Heinlein, and when I couldn’t find all of his books in the school’s library and public library, turned to other science fiction writers to satisfy my cravings. My interests expanded to include sciences, mathematics, history, and other subjects; likewise, my interests grew to include other literary forms, though none of the works were as interesting and exciting as science fiction.
I can’t honestly say that Heinlein is the greatest science fiction writer, but I certainly find him to be among the real “greats” the field has produced. I’ve re-read his works countless times since my childhood, and despite their having become dated in certain details, nevertheless I still find his stories compelling and his views stimulating.
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