FOR US THE LIVING by Robert A. Heinlein

[fpw]

FYI -- I review Heinlein's FOR US THE LIVING in the current issue (#187 / March 2004) of The NY Review of SF. I rarely do reviews, but when asked to comment on RAH's heretofore unknown first novel, I couldn't refuse.

It is, I regret to say, a negative review.

[Ken Valentine]

FYI -- I review Heinlein's FOR US THE LIVING in the current issue (#187 / March 2004) of The NY Review of SF. I rarely do reviews, but when asked to comment on RAH's heretofore unknown first novel, I couldn't refuse.

It is, I regret to say, a negative review.

Which I'm sure RAH expected. (Negative reviews that is.) Why else would he try to round up and destroy every known copy?

Everything else he wrote was wonderful, and it's sad to think that some unscrupulous so-and-so would would show such disrespect to his memory.

They even waited until after Virginia died, so she couldn't object to this publication.

Sad . . . very sad.

Ken V.

[fpw]

They even waited until after Virginia died, so she couldn't object to this publication.

Right. Part of my review lapsed into a polemic against Scribners and the Heinlein estate.

[Ken Valentine]

Right. Part of my review lapsed into a polemic against Scribners and the Heinlein estate.

I would be very interested to read your review. When/where/how can I get a copy?

Ken V. (An old Heinlein fan . . . er, long-time Heinlein fan. Well . . . both actually.)

[nijimeijer]

I'm hoping they re release Grumbles From The Grave. Someone I trusted stole my hard cover copy that I managed to find in a used book store.

Can't find it anywhere now (all the good used places here in town have closed their doors recently), and I'd love to read it again.

[Ken Valentine]

I'm hoping they re release Grumbles From The Grave. Someone I trusted stole my hard cover copy that I managed to find in a used book store.

Can't find it anywhere now (all the good used places here in town have closed their doors recently), and I'd love to read it again.


It's available in paperback.

Try abebooks.com, you might find it in hardback as well.

Ken V.

[fpw]

I would be very interested to read your review. When/where/how can I get a copy?

If someone reminds me next month, I'll post it here. I sold only NA serial rights to the piece, but I don't feel right about posting it during the month of publication.

[Scott Hajek]

I'm hoping they re release Grumbles From The Grave. Someone I trusted stole my hard cover copy that I managed to find in a used book store.

Can't find it anywhere now (all the good used places here in town have closed their doors recently), and I'd love to read it again.
What is it with used book stores lately? There is only one left in my area.

[Ken Valentine]

What is it with used book stores lately? There is only one left in my area.

There aren't any in my area, which is why I use abebooks.com. The closest one is nearly 30 miles away, so it's easier for me to just buy them on the web . . . which is one of the major reasons I got a computer to begin with.

Ken V.

[Ken Valentine]

If someone reminds me next month, I'll post it here. I sold only NA serial rights to the piece, but I don't feel right about posting it during the month of publication.

Understandable. It wouldn't be right. I will remind you.


Do you hear that everybody! Y'all remind me to remind FPW!

Ken V.

[Tim Hatch]

There aren't any in my area, which is why I use abebooks.com. The closest one is nearly 30 miles away, so it's easier for me to just buy them on the web . . . which is one of the major reasons I got a computer to begin with.

Ken V.

Ken and All,

You might try using Addall.com or Bookfinder.com. These sites search abebooks inventory and a bunch of other sites. You get a ton of more choices than with ABE alone.

[Ken Valentine]

Ken and All,

You might try using Addall.com or Bookfinder.com. These sites search abebooks inventory and a bunch of other sites. You get a ton of more choices than with ABE alone.

Thanks. I've never had a problen with abe, but if I do, I'll certainly give them a try.

Ken V.

[fpw]

I guess it's been long enough. Attached is the review of For Us The Living that I did for the March issue of the New York Review of Science Fiction.

[Ken Valentine]

I guess it's been long enough. Attached is the review of For Us The Living that I did for the March issue of the New York Review of Science Fiction.

Thank you. This causes me to question the motives of those who brought this book to light.

The part about those who would have to fight in a war being the only ones who are elligible to vote to go to war, sounds like it came straight from the pen of General Smedley Butler. Which it probably did.

Ken V.

[jimbow8]

Except the people don't vote to go to war, congress does that (well, unless your president uses his executive/dictatorial power). I don't think there is anyone in congress who would be "eligible" to go to war. I like the idea though. How about as an addendum, those eligible who vote to go to war must then actually go to the war themselves.

[Ken Valentine]

Except the people don't vote to go to war, congress does that (well, unless your president uses his executive/dictatorial power). I don't think there is anyone in congress who would be "eligible" to go to war. I like the idea though. How about as an addendum, those eligible who vote to go to war must then actually go to the war themselves.

See part 4; "How to smash this racket." on the following site.

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

Makes sense to me! Those who have to do the actual fighting get to vote on it, and those who don't . . . don't.

Ken V.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

I guess it's been long enough. Attached is the review of For Us The Living that I did for the March issue of the New York Review of Science Fiction.

I read in the last "Locus" that Spider Robinson is working on a novel called VARIABLE STAR, based on detailed notes Heinlein wrote in 1955. I guess Spider's the best guy to do it, but it seems somehow...ghoulish to me. (That said, if I were Spider, would I have taken the job? Hell, yeah!)

[Ken Valentine]

I read in the last "Locus" that Spider Robinson is working on a novel called VARIABLE STAR, based on detailed notes Heinlein wrote in 1955. I guess Spider's the best guy to do it, but it seems somehow...ghoulish to me. (That said, if I were Spider, would I have taken the job? Hell, yeah!)


Variable Star . . . . The title reminds me of one of Vernor Vingh's novels, although I can't remember the name of it at the moment.

Ken V.

[nijimeijer]

I read in the last "Locus" that Spider Robinson is working on a novel called VARIABLE STAR, based on detailed notes Heinlein wrote in 1955. I guess Spider's the best guy to do it, but it seems somehow...ghoulish to me. (That said, if I were Spider, would I have taken the job? Hell, yeah!)

That kind of thing is always a bit icky. However, I doubt Heinlein himself would've minded; he was always a bit cavalier in his attitude towards authorship. Though I would be interested to see if the project waited until after Virginia's death, or if she was onboard.

Sometimes, publishers can be evil like that, like with For Us The Living, or with Betancourt's tepid entries into Zelazny's Amber universe. In that case, of course, Zelazny had specifically requested no one play in that world except for him. Of course, his son had other ideas, and as he controlled the rights . . .

Nasty.

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

I'm hoping they re release Grumbles From The Grave. Someone I trusted stole my hard cover copy that I managed to find in a used book store.

Can't find it anywhere now (all the good used places here in town have closed their doors recently), and I'd love to read it again.

Your problem is solved. I've been on jury duty, and during lunch break yesterday, I shambled up Chambers Street to inspect what Ruby's Book Sale had to offer on the outside table. Bless my soul, a nice hardcover GRUMBLES for 2 bucks! I was going to leave it, but I figured, "Well, it's not especially rare, but you don't see it everyday either. I'll buy it, somebody will want it." Now I know who that somebody is. Just let me know your mailing address, and I'll send it out. (Nice photos, especially of RAH as a very serious tot, high school graduate, and naval cadet. I suspect most of have a mental picture of the great man as Methuselah's Children's grandpa, so it was fun to see him in his youth.)

[nijimeijer]

Your problem is solved. I've been on jury duty, and during lunch break yesterday, I shambled up Chambers Street to inspect what Ruby's Book Sale had to offer on the outside table. Bless my soul, a nice hardcover GRUMBLES for 2 bucks! I was going to leave it, but I figured, "Well, it's not especially rare, but you don't see it everyday either. I'll buy it, somebody will want it." Now I know who that somebody is. Just let me know your mailing address, and I'll send it out. (Nice photos, especially of RAH as a very serious tot, high school graduate, and naval cadet. I suspect most of have a mental picture of the great man as Methuselah's Children's grandpa, so it was fun to see him in his youth.)

Holy Lord, are you serious?!

If so, w00t. Let me know, and I'll PM you the information. And then I'll be in your debt.

[jimbow8]

Here's a quote from Smedley Butler that I found. I'm sure some of you have seen this quote already, but I hadn't.

"I spent thirty-three years and four months in active service in the country's most agile military force, the Marines. I served in all ranks from second lieutenant to major general. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

"I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

"Thus I helped make Mexico, and especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. "I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenue in. I helped in the raping of half-a-dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers and Co. in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras 'right' for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

"During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals, and promotion. Looking back on it, I feel that I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate a racket in three city districts. The Marines operated on three continents."
—Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler (former Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps), Common Sense, November 1935

[Bluesman Mike Lindner]

Holy Lord, are you serious?!

If so, w00t. Let me know, and I'll PM you the information. And then I'll be in your debt.

Just give me your mailing address, old Venusian dragon, and the book is on its way. I'll be back on the board tomorrow, Monday 5/3. (I post from an internet cafe, so I'm only here Sundays and Mondays.)