Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert A.
Paperback
List Price:                 $7.99
booksXYZ price: $5.59

Stranger in a Strange Land wasn't even on the list of books I know I should or want to read until I was doing research for my upcoming Cult Fiction Article.  I ran accross it in a list of cult fiction novels and had to see what it was about, and from there I couldn't stop reading about it.  While not every review was a glowing approbation of the novel, there was something about it that seemed far too fascinating not to want to read. 

The novel is about a character, Mike, who was the child of an elicit affair, and the sole survivor of a convoy of human passengers to Mars.  Raised by aliens while Earth is locked in World War III it is 25 years before anyone back "home" realize there was a survivor.  Brought back to Earth as a ward of the world and decreed a "sovereign nation and lawful 'owner' of Mars," Mike goes through a series of adjustments, escape from the government, alliance with cults, and more. ¹

Stranger in a Strange Land is a best-selling winner of the 1961 Hugo Award and later editions of the book promoted it as "The most famous Science Fiction Novel ever written."  One particular area of speculation and interest was that the first edition of the book (and several thereafter) were cut down from the original 160,000 words.  Heinlein had intended to break out of his classification as a young adult or childrens author, yet his editors wanted him to cut 60,000 words.  He did it, somewhat unwillingly.  And the result, for some was disastrous compared to the original work (the edition for sale here is the uncut version).  G.E. Rule writes about the differences between the cut and uncut versions in his article "Stranger vs Stranger: Comparing Versions of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land" which can be read here. 

Rule writes "I never particularly liked STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. For many years I didn't know why. I just knew that it didn't "taste" right to me. Interestingly, such an attitude was by no means unknown among other hardcore RAH-o'-philes --a camp I unambiguously plant my flag in. While SIASL brought many new fans to RAH's fiction, my own unscientific observation over the years has been that the more ardent the RAH fan the more likely she/he was to be lukewarm, at best, about SIASL....But my opinion of SIASL changed when I read the Uncut. I can't thank Mrs. Virginia Heinlein enough for making that possible. It will still never make my RAH top five, but she has given us back a RAH book (a treasure beyond price-- they ain't making 'em anymore) where before, for me at least, there was only a baffling disappointment." [A RAH the abbreviation of Robert A. Heinlein, and the SIASL is the abbreviation for Stranger in a Strange Land in cas you were as confused as I was when I first read this). 

This is a book I'll be adding to my list to read, as will several other novels of Heinlein's such as Starship Troopers, Red Planet, and The Man Who Sold the Moon.  To see a list of Heinlein books that we carry click here.

Notes

1. Summary was gleaned from reading the Wikipedia entry for Strangers in a Strange Land and Hackwriters.com review of Strangers in a Strange Land which you can read here.