He has done extensive research
into the stories behind each story, interviewing Heinlein’s wife and friends
as well as poring through correspondence and files archived at The University
of California in Santa Cruz. The information he has unearthed is frequently
surprising, and debunks some of the best-known "facts" of Heinlein’s work.
Behind the music
Gifford reveals how Heinlein
-- always the expert storyteller -- polished the tale of how
he broke in as a writer. He presents the truth behind the "writing
contest" that encouraged Heinlein to try his hand at professional science
fiction, and identifies unpublished stories that precede the "first story"
of "Life-Line".
Other surprises include an
explanation of how the story comments of Expanded Universe were
created. but the most delicious revelation may be how Heinlein took revenge
on an obsessively prudish editor by successfully sneaking a smutty double-entendre
into the name of The Star Beast’s lead character.
Gifford’s scholarship is
excellent – his facts are carefully checked and his speculations and opinions
are clearly marked. The Reader’s Companion could easily become an
essential tool for critics, but its relaxed and informal prose makes it
an entertaining read for almost any Heinlein fan.
Beyond this horizon
There’s a lot to learn about
Heinlein in the Reader’s Companion, but Gifford seems determined
to make his book a first step rather than the final word. He cheerfully
recommends other thinkers and Heinlein-related publications, and encourages
readers to dig into the etymologies of character names and sources of quotations
for themselves.
He also presents a glimpse
of what we don’t know about Heinlein yet. Unfinished fragments of stories
lurk in the Santa Cruz archives, as well as correspondence that will be
sealed away until 2038.
Heinlein was frequently evasive
about his personal beliefs, and the Reader’s Companion highlights
a variety of ways in which the ideas he espoused in his writings are more
complicated than they seem to be. Nobody has found a Rosetta stone to Heinlein’s
mind yet – could some clues be hidden in his archives?
Finally, there’s at least
one interesting possibility for fans who would like to see some "new" Heinlein
stories. Heinlein attempted to develop several film and television projects
in the 1950s and 1960s, including a TV series called Century XXII,
which would have been set in the world of his stories "Gulf" and Friday.
Tribune Entertainment has
already developed two series – Earth:
Final Conflict and the upcoming Andromeda
– based on old Gene Roddenberry premises. Is a Robert Heinlein’s Century
XXII TV series such an unreasonable idea?
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