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Robert Heinlein

Friday Mass Market Paperback – July 12, 1983

by Robert A. Heinlein (Author)

878 ratings

Part of: CAEZIK Notables (1 books)

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Engineered from the finest genes, and trained to be a secret courier in a future world, Friday operates over a near-future Earth, where chaos reigns. Working at Boss's whimsical behest she travels from far north to deep south, finding quick, expeditious solutions as one calamity after another threatens to explode in her face....

Print length

357 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Del Rey
Publication date

July 12, 1983
Dimensions

4.18 x 0.98 x 6.86 inches
ISBN-10

034530988X
ISBN-13

978-0345309884
Lexile measure

890L
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Like many people, I go way, way back with Heinlein. My very favorite book (and one that stands out in my mind--and with much affection--to this day) is Tunnel in the Sky. I really, really wanted to go off to explore new worlds with a covered wagon and horses, like the hero does at the very end of the book. But one of the nice things about Robert Heinlein is that he's got something for everyone. One of my best friends has a different favorite: Podkayne of Mars. Go figure.
--Shelly Shapiro, Executive Editor

From the Inside Flap

Engineered from the finest genes, and trained to be a secret courier in a future world, Friday operates over a near-future Earth, where chaos reigns. Working at Boss's whimsical behest she travels from far north to deep south, finding quick, expeditious solutions as one calamity after another threatens to explode in her face....

From the Back Cover

Friday is a secret courier. She is employed by a man known to her only as 'Boss'. Operating from and over a near-future Earth, in which North America has become Balkanized into dozens of independent states, where culture has become bizarrely vulgarized and chaos is the happy norm, she finds herself on shuttlecock assignment at Boss' seemingly whimsical behest. From New Zealand to Canada, from one to another of the new states of America's disunion, she keeps her balance nimbly with quick, expeditious solutions to one calamity and scrape after another.

About the Author

Robert Anson Heinlein was born in Missouri in 1907, and was raised there. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1929, but was forced by illness to retire from the Navy in 1934. He settled in California and over the next five years held a variety of jobs while doing post-graduate work in mathematics and physics at the University of California. In 1939 he sold his first science fiction story to Astounding magazine and soon devoted himself to the genre.

He was a four-time winner of the Hugo Award for his novels Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), Starship Troopers (1959), Double Star (1956), and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966). His Future History series, incorporating both short stories and novels, was first mapped out in 1941. The series charts the social, political, and technological changes shaping human society from the present through several centuries into the future.

Robert A. Heinlein’s books were among the first works of science fiction to reach bestseller status in both hardcover and paperback. he continued to work into his eighties, and his work never ceased to amaze, to entertain, and to generate controversy. By the time he died, in 1988, it was evident that he was one of the formative talents of science fiction: a writer whose unique vision, unflagging energy, and persistence, over the course of five decades, made a great impact on the American mind.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Del Rey (July 12, 1983)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 357 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 034530988X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345309884
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 890L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.18 x 0.98 x 6.86 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #806,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,177 in Genetic Engineering Science Fiction (Books)
- #10,682 in Space Operas
- #15,282 in Science Fiction Adventures

Customer Reviews:
878 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		17%
3 star		8%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Swooper

Kindle version FULL OF TYPOS!! Very aggravating to read because of the typos.

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2018

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Friday The book is great! Loved reading it! HOWEVER, the Kindle version SUCKS old rotten ostrich eggs. It's FULL of typos, some of which are not difficult to figure out, but when you come across a word, "cormls," even in context it's damn hard to figure out what it is ... see Friday Kindle version, location 5520. I just bought the Kindle version, then read in the comments section about the typos. So I looked myself, and the comment was correct! My advice? Keep the hardcover or paperback(s) you have of Friday and read them. The Kindle version is aggravating because of the darn typos, which is from poor proofreading.

81 people found this helpful

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Richard A. Lawhern

"Friday" seems dated and simplistic

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2019

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There is no denying that Robert A Heinlein was one of the "greats" in science fiction. Beginning in the 1940s, his work broke new ground and engaged three generations of readers. He spoke to themes that were highly controversial in their day, and his work was rightly praised - even when it descended into Libertarian fantasy and right-wing militarism, as it did in his later books.

In the newly re-released "Friday" I am tempted to make a comparison to Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" written in the 1860s. Both have been praised by critics as among the best work produced by their respective authors. But if my experience can be any guide, modern readers might find relatively little in "Friday" to deserve the praise. The times have moved on. Authors influenced by Dickens or Heinlein have since written far more complex and nuanced work, incorporating many of their themes. Dickens' emphasis on the personal growth of his main character Pip is now a staple of western literature. Heinlein's distrust of liberal politics (and in other books, his admiration for "free love" outside institutions of marriage) is likewise a "given" in many modern plots.

Thus what I found in re-reading "Friday" was rather a mixed bag. By the standards of the 21st Century, a lot of the writing and the lives of the characters may impress readers as "quaint" or "naive" sketches lacking depth. If you are interested in the historical roots of modern science fiction, then by all means read from this master. But if you're primarily seeking entertainment in your reading, then you might give this one a pass.

24 people found this helpful

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goodsoul

Friday Revisited - 35 Years Later

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017

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Heinlein is more prophetic today than he was 35 years ago, when Friday was published (1982). It was a favorite when first I read it, and still today having just completed reading it for a second time. Heinlein has no equal on the bookshelves, in ink or electrons. He is, especially in his later work, keen on creating a compelling insight into our common humanity in an uncommon future. Friday Jones, our heroine, is a genetically enhanced human, or artificial person, in the parlance of the book. She is kooky smart and as deadly as she is sexy. But hers is a coming of age story nevertheless. I personally like stories slight on plot and heavy on character interaction. This book delivers. We learn about Friday in the first person and about the future of our species as Friday navigates mega-corporations and intergalactic political duress all the while trying only to find a loving home. And for those new to Heinlein, be ready for some not-so-subtle commentary on morals and ethics.

Readers should note that the transition from ink to electrons was not without errors galore. I suspect this too is a condition we live with in 2017.

38 people found this helpful

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FrancisT

The classic SF story about breaking the mental chains of slavery

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2018

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Friday is a controversial book that many complain about because they say it trivializes rape and so on. These critics clearly haven't read the book properly and totally misunderstand the character of the heroine. The key to understanding Friday is realizing that, although outwardly she seems to be competent and successful, inwardly she lacks the confidence to recognize that she is so. The genius of Heinlein is that he can allow the attentive reader to understand his heroines flaws and weaknesses even though the heroine is also the narrator.

You can read this book, as I first dis at age 12 or so, as an action adventure story and it is that, but you can read it in deeper layers too including the layer where you admire the master and his craftmanship

12 people found this helpful

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Kristi Schultz

Overall I really liked this book

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2018

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Somehow I missed reading this in junior high when all my friends were reading it. Overall I really liked this book. I was somewhat surprised that a significant portion of it takes place in a area that I'm familiar with, the border area of North Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba. I've visited Winnipeg several times.

I liked the characters, I thought the plot line was fine, but the action ran at you time and time again like a blitzing linebacker. Friday was the only really well developed character, the rest of the characters were fairly disposable and transient. At times it was kinda preachy on the issues of libertarianism and, somewhat shockingly, on discrimination. Anyone who claims Heinlein is racist and/or discriminatory probably hasn't read him. Friday ended up having way more sex than I was expecting. She's oddly unemotional about the rape at the beginning of the book. I've heard it said it's because she doesn't regard herself as human. I'm not sure I buy into that. She's a little tentative about kissing a woman at first, but then seems to get quite into it. None of her relationships are what someone might consider 'conventional'.

My biggest complaint was the formatting of this copy. This was apparently a bad OCR, as there were numerous instances of misspellings and improper punctuation.

11 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Eileen Shaw

Smoke the toke that Jesus smoked ANGEL STICKS: Guaranteed noncarcinogenic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2014

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This mostly light-hearted book begins with a woman being subjected to a rape and a beating in an effort to get information from her, but the tone taken makes it almost incidental. She is a courier for a large corporation and in fact is an AP (Artificial Person). Nothing bad can happen to her, however, because she is trained to withstand almost any kind of attack. Sister, perhaps to Lee Childs hero? Quite why we had to have a rape at this juncture soured the whole thing for me. No mention is made of any injuries, a quick visit to the corporation’s doctor, and she’s as good as new, in spite of having a nipple cut off. Okay, maybe Mr Heinlein has to get something off his mind. We are in the realm of fantasy edged with, when it comes to space travel, some nifty bits of techno-speak. But Friday, as she is called, isn’t real, so why should we invest our time in her?

There is a fairly interesting plot and a few escapades and I suppose it may enliven a dreary day, but I couldn’t get too interested in such a nebulous scenario. Let’s face it, if you have to have someone raped, the least you could try for might be a few doubts about the morality of the thing. The plot looks up a bit when Friday decides she will escape from almost certain death by losing herself on another planet. As far as I’m concerned she’s been on another planet all along.

2 people found this helpful

Tim Dumble

A study in the need to belong

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2011

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I was motivated to read this work having read a reference to it in an essay by Asimov in his collection 'Gold' and
having never previously read any of the work by this, one of the doyens of Science Fiction.

First impressions are of a some what dated piece of fiction crafted in an increasingly bygone age -the 1980s. 'Friday' is unquestionably old school even for 1982 when compared to the emerging cyberpunk work of Gibson and Sterling .A glance at the publishers list of current best sellers in my NEL edition sets the novels context clearly:'The stand','Dune','The Fog'.Leaving aside the somewhat 1960s liberal approach to sexuality,'Friday' still has much to offer the contemporary reader however.

This is a stylishly written, pacy page turner in the style of Dan Brown and is a unique blend of SF and spy thriller.At the heart of the narrative is the struggle by the eponymous heroine, an Artificial Person to find an identity, to become accepted and to belong - something all readers can identify with.

Unquestionably Heinlein has influenced the writng of contemporary writers of this genre.There are striking similarities between the tone and ideas developed by Bacigalupi in 'The windup Girl' and 'Friday', both are set in post modern worlds,plagued by energy shortages, ruled as much by corporate elites as by nation states and populated by artificial people.Indeed Heinlein's notion of a corporate nation and terretorial nations seems particularly apposite in a modern world where nation states are increasingly crippled by debt whilst global corporations continue to prosper.

One person found this helpful

J. A. Dunning

Classic Heinlein

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2018

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Classsic. I got this to replace a copy of lost and reread it avidly.

Kris Millar

Arrived Early

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2021

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A replacement for a copy that was ruined in a fire.

CMS

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2016

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Not as good as I remembered

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