Did he ask the small towns of the Gulf if they would pay to have books shipped?
Did he ask the large towns of Mississippi and Louisiana? How about Florida?
Did he ask the local libraries that use old books to raise money? How about the churches? The VA hospital?
Whether he did, or whether he didn't matters not. He burned them, as many as he could manage before the Fire Department stopped him. Since his antics have made the national news, maybe he's got his money's worth in free advertising.
He is also making manifest some old bogeymen.
[crossposted @ Mockingbird's Medley]
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Monday, May 28, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Hot Topic
On Sunday Kevin Drum did a post on the Heinlein Centennial, which will be July 6 through 8 in Kansas City.
Of course the post has a lot of comments. They range from the idiotic (Why isn't it another date? Well, since Heinlein was born July 7 of 1907, another date would not be a Centennial, now would it?) to the very explicit.
One of the comments I liked the most pointed out that his three major cult novels appealed to three very different cults. The person commenting did not see a philosophical thread that connected Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, and Stranger in a Strange Land, but they are actually not inconsistent with one another. Indeed, Moon is a Harsh Mistress holds permutations and echoes of the other two.
Every now and then, as someone who has read all his work, I have a Heinlein moment, when something he has written becomes obvious to the rest of the world. One of the most recent was when Stephen Hawking took his zero-g flight. The inevitable thought was that Hawking would live "Waldo" if he were allowed to do so, because living in zero-g would be a great boon to him and his caregivers.
In many ways Heinlein was a visionary. He was, nevertheless, a creature of his age, for all the things he did that were unusual.
Of course the post has a lot of comments. They range from the idiotic (Why isn't it another date? Well, since Heinlein was born July 7 of 1907, another date would not be a Centennial, now would it?) to the very explicit.
One of the comments I liked the most pointed out that his three major cult novels appealed to three very different cults. The person commenting did not see a philosophical thread that connected Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, and Stranger in a Strange Land, but they are actually not inconsistent with one another. Indeed, Moon is a Harsh Mistress holds permutations and echoes of the other two.
Every now and then, as someone who has read all his work, I have a Heinlein moment, when something he has written becomes obvious to the rest of the world. One of the most recent was when Stephen Hawking took his zero-g flight. The inevitable thought was that Hawking would live "Waldo" if he were allowed to do so, because living in zero-g would be a great boon to him and his caregivers.
In many ways Heinlein was a visionary. He was, nevertheless, a creature of his age, for all the things he did that were unusual.
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