American Writers (one Hundred Pages At A Time)

The final episode of my review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. This novel deserves to be remembered as one of the best of the later 20th century. 

Part three of my review of the wonderful novel ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. In this section, Eric returns to New York and crisis deepens in the relationships of our main characters Ida, Vivaldo, Cass, and Richard. 

In this episode I take a quick look at the excellent short novel by Robert A. Heinlein PODKAYNE OF MARS. It is one of my favorite Heinlein novels I have read and it really seems Heinlein can write young characters well, just not young men. 

Part two of my review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin. For a novel that is just exploring transgressive romantic relationships (and some square relationships too), it is an enthralling journey.

This teeny tiny short story by Robert A. Heinlein also seems to be the last short story we will look at in this series. From here on out it will be wild novels. But this is a nice story to end with.

This episode is part one of my four part review of ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin, a novel about race, sex, and art set in Greenwich Village. It is excellent. 

Sorry for the delay in uploads. ANOTHER COUNTRY and work has been keeping me busier than I thought. But here is the conclusion to my review of STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert A. Heinlein. One thing I never really talked much about in the review is cannibalism, but that is just a symptom of how much this book has to talk about. 

In this episode I look at the middle third of Robert A. Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. We take a closer look at the word "grok" and its in-world meaning.

In this episode I begin my look at Robert A. Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. We will have a lot to talk about over these three episodes as this is a thematically rich book. The first third of the book is doing a lot of set up and drags at times, but nevertheless this one is worth attempting.

I am a bit backed up in producing episodes because I am wrangling with two larger novels (STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and ANOTHER COUNTRY). Hopefully those episodes will be ready next week. For now, we can look at Heinlein's short story "All You Zombies", a time travel story with a trans twist.

In part two of my review of STARSHIP TROOPERS, I complete my look at the text of the novel and discuss a little bit about the books legacy and influence on other storytellers. 

Want to read a very sad novel about expats in Paris? Try James Baldwin's GIOVANNI'S ROOM. I loved it and am fully convinced that Baldwin is a beautiful writer. This short novel is full of theme and is certainly worth a read or two. 

In this episode I review the first half of STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein and discuss all of the "History and Moral Philosophy" sections and the claims often made about Heinlein's politics. In the next episode I will discuss the rest of the book and its legacy.

The conclusion to my review of James Baldwin's GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN. This delightful and rich book is worth a look or two. Let me know what you thought of it.

With this episode we close the book on the Robert A. Heinlein juveniles, so in addition to reviewing HAVE SPACE SUIT, WILL TRAVEL, I give my overall ranking of the 12 Scribner novels. There are only 15 works (13 novels and 2 short stories) left and I could not be more excited to jump into his works of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

In this episode I begin my look at James Baldwin with his first novel GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN. It the first half of this novel, we can already sense Baldwin's unique contribution to African-American literature.

In the quasi-fantasy story "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" (1957) Heinlein wrote a sentimental tale about America, journeys, and a man getting what he deserves in the afterlife.

"Menace from Earth" by Robert A. Heinlein is a teenage romance, set on the Moon that builds on the themes explored in the excellent stories collected in THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH.

The finale of my review of THE OUTSIDER by Richard Wright and the end of my examination of the works of Richard Wright. Our next series will be a long one, looking at the works of James Baldwin. 

My frustration with THE OUSIDER by Richard Wright grows a bit as I read Part 4 (Despair). Cross Damon does another murder and is trying to avoid arrest for his crimes but still has time for long debates on Communism and Fascism.