The Robert Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana [Paperback]

J. Neil Schulman (Author), Brad Linaweaver (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 1999

In 1975, Robert A. Heinlein was sixty-six, at the height of his literary career; J. Neil Schulman was twenty and hadn't yet started his first novel. Because he was looking for a way to meet his idol, Schulman wangled an assignment from the New York Daily News--at the time the largest circulation newspaper in the U.S.--to interview Heinlein for its Sunday Book Supplement. The resulting taped interview lasted three-and-a-half hours. This turned out to be the longest interview Heinlein ever granted, and the only one in which he talked freely and extensively about his personal philosophy and ideology.

"The Robert Heinlein Interview" contains Heinlein you won't find anywhere else--even in Heinlein's own "Expanded Universe." If you wnat to know what Heinlein had to say about UFO's, life after death, epistemology, or libertarianism, this interview is the only source available.

Also included in this collection are articles, reviews, and letters that J. Neil Schulman wrote about Heinlein, including the original article written for The Daily News, about which the Heinleins wrote Schulman that it was, "The best article--in style, content, and accuracy--of the many, many written about him over the years."

This book is must-reading for any serious student of Heinlein, or any reader seeking to know him better.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Helps put the great master’s work and life in context, to see the magnitude and beauty of Heinlein’s accomplishments. -- Stephan Kinsella, GEnie Science Fiction and Fantasy RoundTable

The interview with RAH is the crown jewel of the book. Worth reading, worth rereading, worth keeping to read again." -- Darryl Kenning, Reading For Pleasure

This is the longest interview Robert ever gave. Should be on the shelves of everyone interested in science fiction. -- Virginia Heinlein, editor, Grumbles from the Grave

From the Publisher

Our Dutch Uncle

Foreword by Brad Linaweaver

"He is in our heads." So writes J. Neil Schulman about his hero, Robert A. Heinlein. My friend of thirty years, Bill Ritch, has used the same phrase as long as I’ve known him. But just who is the "our?" Do Neil and Bill mean the community of science fiction professionals? Do they mean the fans? I think not.

The "our" refers to an area where two special interests meet: science fiction and libertarianism. For science fiction enthusiasts who are not libertarians (the majority), Heinlein is an important figure in the field and an influence on many writers. For libertarians who are not science fiction readers (the majority), Heinlein is an interesting footnote in the literature of liberty. But for those of us who combine these two passions and have optimism in the future, Robert Anson Heinlein is God.

We have needed this book for a very long time. As Mrs. Heinlein says in her endorsement, this interview will appeal both to readers of science fiction and to libertarians. But for those of us who burn for technological marvels and want freedom to enjoy them instead of being slaves to a technocratic Big Brother, Heinlein created the blueprint that may get us to a better world. Not Utopia, because he taught us that

The Robert A. Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana such a dream truly is nowhere. A better world, on the other hand, is not impossible. It is simply hard to achieve.

When he died, the larger world paid attention to his impact on us; yes, on those of us who take The Moon is a Harsh Mistress seriously! As I wrote in New Libertarian, the Associated Press mentioned his libertarianism.

The science fiction press did its best to ignore the same thing. I was annoyed at the time. Now I see that the SF world was trying to do him a favor by ignoring his politics. They gave him a vacation from their usual slanders and libels.

Now with the Hollywood blockbuster of Starship Troopers, the SF community is back to normal; back to calling Heinlein a fascist. And what of his defenders? They know full well that the limited government model of liberty is every bit as objectionable to today’s totalitarians as is any anarchy. Those who call Heinlein a fascist know that they are lying. Those who deny Heinlein’s libertarianism from the other direction know they are lying, too.

In this, the best interview with Heinlein, Neil Schulman inspired the following comment from his hero: "I would say that my position is not too far from that of Ayn Rand; that I would like to see government reduced to no more than internal police and courts, external armed forces — with the other matters handled otherwise. I’m sick of the way the government sticks its nose into everything, now." Also: "The justification for free enterprise is that it’s free."

There is only one kind of mentality in this sorry world that describes such expressions of American individualism as fascist: the Marxist mind. That this discredited mode of thought dominates science fiction criticism is no surprise. It still holds sway in New York and Hollywood. It may be finished in Moscow but it’s doing fine at Harvard and Yale.

That is why we need this book. Robert A. Heinlein is our Dutch Uncle. Maybe the American family is falling apart for lack of decent father figures but at least we still have the voice of one sane man who tells us to be the best we can be and expects even more than an Army recruitment ad. (Besides, he’s Navy!)

The United States of America beat its greatest enemies of the century. Heinlein was there in the fight against fascism (and its virulent mutant form of Nazism) as well as in the 75-year-long struggle against Soviet Communism. We defeated these monsters and now our reward seems to be domestic tyranny at the hands of our worst elements, true parasites of the soul.

Naturally such people cannot stand the work of Robert A. Heinlein. Naturally they accuse the man of propagating what is actually their own evils.

The trouble for them is that Heinlein won’t go away. They can’t let him go away. The kind of totalitarian who gravitates to the arts needs to steal from somewhere— even from our Dutch Uncle, who was a superb entertainer. But they make sure to leave out his philosophy.

Buy multiple copies! Tell your friends! This one book will answer for all time what Heinlein’s positions really were.

The answers are not good for the enemies of freedom.

December 27, 1998

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Pulpless.Com, Inc. (January 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584450150
• ISBN-13: 978-1584450153
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J. Neil Schulman is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, whom the Wall Street Journal called a pioneer of electronic publishing His 1979 Prometheus-Hall-of-Fame novel Alongside Night -- endorsed by Milton Friedman, Anthony Burgess, and Ron Paul -- projected the economic meltdown and was Freedom Book of the Month for May, 2009. It's currently in development as his second feature film, following his award-winning comic thriller, Lady Magdalene's, starring Nichelle Nichols, which Schulman wrote, produced, directed, and acted in. His 1983 novel, The Rainbow Cadenza, won the Prometheus Award, was adapted into a Laserium show, and Robert A. Heinlein told the 1983 L-5 Society, "Every libertarian should read it!" Schulman scripted the CBS revived Twilight Zone episode, "Profile in Silver." He taught a graduate course on electronic publishing for The New School, has written for popular magazines and newspapers including National Review, Reason, the Los Angeles Times, and Reader's Digest, and monographs ranging from animal rights, informational property rights, and medicalization of criminology have been widely anthologized by academic presses. His 12 books include Stopping Power: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns, endorsed by Charlton Heston and Dennis Prager, Self Control Not Gun Control endorsed by Walter Williams, and The Robert Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana, which Virginia Heinlein said "should be on the shelves of everyone interested in science fiction." His latest is Unchaining the Human Heart--A Revolutionary Manifesto. He's recipient of the James Madison Award from the Second Amendment Foundation, and on March 16, 2009 Schulman was awarded the Samuel Edward Konkin III Memorial Chauntecleer by the Karl Hess Club, the only previous recipients being Hans-Hermann Hoppe and Wally Conger. Full bio at http://www.pulpless.com/jneil/jnsbio.html

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Trying to Find the Real Heinlein, April 7, 2006

By 

Patrick Shepherd "hyperpat" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Robert Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana (Paperback)

Any Heinlein fanatic is always on the lookout for anything either by or about the man. This book has some 20,000 words from him, mainly about his political beliefs, but also with a few insights into some of his novels, methods of writing, and his characters, though I think someone versed in Heinlein's works can gain more of this latter from the interstitial material in Expanded Universe.

Schulman did this as a phone interview in 1973, when Schulman was in his early twenties, and like most young men, he was obviously sure that he had the answers to the riddles of the universe. This attitude comes through very strongly, and it is quite interesting to see how Heinlein carefully sidestepped any endorsement of the agenda Schulman was pushing without being either condescending or confrontational, even if Schulman's agenda was close to Heinlein's own ideas about government. Heinlein comes across here as a man who is comfortable with his own value set that he had built up from continual queries and observations over his life span, and dealing with such an upstart was old hat. But it is also clear from this that Heinlein's core beliefs in regards to the role of government is very definitely Libertarian in nature. Those who have read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress will recognize the portrait of Professor de la Paz in his comments here - I was strongly reminded of Prof's comments about various types of anarchists and how he could get along with most of them, even though none of them matched his own beliefs. More than anything else, though, this interview brings out very clearly that much of the philosophy and opinions about the state of the world that permeate his novels (especially his later ones) were things that Heinlein himself believed in, and were not just ideas he threw into his books to stir up debate.

Besides the interview itself, the rest of this book is filled with other items Schulman has written about Heinlein or his books. As these items were written over a span of many years and for multiple different markets, you will find certain things repeated: the basic biographical sketch of Heinlein, certain repeated (memorable) quotes from Heinlein, etc. His reviews of various Heinlein novels, however, I thought were very shallow, regardless of the fact that someone thought they were good enough to not only print, but pay him for. There are probably far better reviews of these novels here on this site, even though they're written by `amateurs'. Schulman should also have done a better job of proofreading this material - at one point he misspells Samuel R. Delany's last name, and there are quite a few typos riddling this material.

Thus, other than the interview itself, this book has little to offer. And the interview is not as informative as it could have been, given Schulman's obvious agenda, though it does provide another view into just what kind of man Heinlein was. Recommended for dyed-in-the-wool Heinlein fans only.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An historical record of an extraordianry writer., May 25, 2002

By 

Paul (Anaheim, California, US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Robert Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana (Paperback)

This book contains an interview with the great American writer Robert A. Heinlein conducted in the early 1970s when Heinlein was under attack by literary acedemia for being a fascist militarist. It's obvious from the interview that Heinlein believed in a strong VOLUNTEER military, but that he was at his very core a constitutionalist who dearly loved freedom and fervently opposed all forms of slavery.

In the decades since, it has become much more common to label Heinlein as a libertarian. But back in that part of the 20th century, Heinlein risked a lot by admitting to being a libertarian (rather than a conservative, which light readers might have assumed). He lost support on the Right and gained little on the Left from the admission. In light of that, The Heinlein Interview is an historical record of a shift -- not only in Heinlein's politics, but that of the American nation.

Heinlein has given interviews before and since on the subject of writing, or what his favorite book is, or whether America should go back to the Moon. But this was the first (and, as far as I've seen, the most in-depth) discussion Heinlein has ever allowed in print concerning his very deeply held political beliefs. This should be a boon to biographers and the curious alike.

The rest of the book consists of miscellaneous exchanges (the "Heinleiniana" of the title) between Heinlein and J. Neil Schulman, an award-winning author in his own right (Alongside Night and The Rainbow Cadenza are two very good novels). It's interesting to read along as the callow Schulman grows into a mature writer and thinker under the tutelage of the patient and understanding Obi-Wan Heinlein.

I liked reading this. Anyone interested in Heinlein who can approach the work and the man without preconceived notions will come away seeing him through new(er) eyes. People who hate Heinlein will learn that he knew exactly why they hated him and that he accepted their enmity with enormous pride.

When the ephemeral writers of the 20th century fade away because they wrote about ephemeral, negative things, Heinlein will be remembered and elevated because he wrote about values eternal and mankind triumphant. He truly was the dean of science fiction and -- quite likely -- of American literature.

43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Spend your money on RAH's works instead, December 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Robert Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana (Paperback)

I consider Robert Heinlein one of the great moral and intellectual guides in my life. His science fiction and essays were guideposts as I grew up. However, I can't recommend J. Neil Schulman's compilation of his interactions with RAH.

The book is rife with typos and is printed in a typeface big enough to qualify for a "Large Print Edition," stamp. ... I should have realized the amateur quality of the publication from the cover photo: a snapshot taken in dim light without a flash. The publisher couldn't even make the effort to color-correct the picture.

Most of the content is Schulman name-dropping and pushing a Libertarian agenda. Not that Libertarianism is a bad thing, it's just Schulman harps on it relentlessly. The foreword by Brad Linaweaver, another flaming Libertarian, intimates that Schulman is a master author, only reined in by Organized Media because of his hard-hitting, challenging, Libertarian-based efforts. If the work in this book is any indication of Schulman's other writing, it isn't a Libertarian stance that's holding him back, it's talent.

The Q&A interview between Schulman and RAH show, to an embarrassingly degree, how shallow Schulman's questions were. Many read like something Comic Book Guy from "The Simpson's" would ask. Granted, Schulman was in his early 20s when he conducted the interview, but most of the interview devolves down to political discussions with a tolerant old man showing a vertically-educated young turk how to think beyond his narrow outlook.

Sadly, you won't get much insight into RAH's thoughts on writing or his creative process; Schulman's too busy asking RAH what he thinks life will be like in a 24th Century inhabited by Lazarus Long.

Spend your money on RAH's own works and you'll get a much better idea of what the man was like and what he thought.