The Robert Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana (Paperback)

~ J. Neil Schulman (Author), Brad Linaweaver (Foreword) "In July of 1973, I was twenty and had been an avid fan of Robert Heinlein for half my life..." (more)
Key Phrases: trade edition forthcoming, Neil Schulman, Robert Heinlein, Lazarus Long (more...)

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

Product Description

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.

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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 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #119,666 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 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 (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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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)

17 of 18 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 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.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Truly awful. More about Schulman than Heinlein, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

As some one who's read just about every word Heinlein has ever written (Ginny just won't let me have the grocery lists!) I absolutely had to have this book. Unfortunately, Schulman is more interested in discussing his political views than truly telling us about this great writer. There is nothing here that is not better told in other of Heinlein's books. If (like me) you MUST read it download it from pulpless.com for free. If you want to learn more about Heinlein look instead to "Take Back Your Government", "Expanded Universe" or "Tramp Royale" If you want to learn more about Libertarian politics Harry Browne's books give much more information and better supporting arguments.