Editing Robert A. Heinlein (section)

===Early work, 1939–1958===
Heinlein began his career as a writer of stories for ''Astounding Science Fiction'' magazine, which was edited by John Campbell. The science fiction writer [[Frederik Pohl]] has described Heinlein as "that greatest of Campbell-era sf writers".<ref name="Working with">{{cite web|title=Working with Robert A. Heinlein|url=http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/05/working-with-robert-a-heinlein/|website=Thewaythefutureblogs.com|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816055831/http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/05/working-with-robert-a-heinlein/|archive-date=August 16, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Isaac Asimov said that, from the time of his first story, the science fiction world accepted that Heinlein was the best science fiction writer in existence, adding that he would hold this title through his lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mATFyeVI7IUC|title=I, Asimov: A Memoir|last=Asimov|first=Isaac|date=December 23, 2009|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-57353-7|language=en|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101100932/https://books.google.com/books?id=mATFyeVI7IUC|url-status=live}}</ref>

Alexei and Cory Panshin noted that Heinlein's impact was immediately felt. In 1940, the year after selling 'Life-Line' to Campbell, he wrote three short novels, four novelettes, and seven short stories. They went on to say that "No one ever dominated the science fiction field as Bob did in the first few years of his career."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dream/dream1.html|title=The Death of Science Fiction: A Dream, Part 1|last=Panshin|first=Alexei and Cory|website=Panshin.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=July 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730234847/http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dream/dream1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Alexei expresses awe in Heinlein's ability to show readers a world so drastically different from the one we live in now, yet have so many similarities. He says that "We find ourselves not only in a world other than our own, but identifying with a living, breathing individual who is operating within its context, and thinking and acting according to its terms."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Golden/goldenage1.html|title=Heinlein and the Golden Age, 1|last=Panshin|first=Alexei|website=Panshin.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=March 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325191609/http://panshin.com/critics/Golden/goldenage1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Two complete science adventure books 1952win n7.jpg|thumb|upright|Heinlein's 1942 novel ''[[Beyond This Horizon]]'' was reprinted in ''[[Two Complete Science-Adventure Books]]'' in 1952, appearing under the "Anson McDonald" byline even though the book edition had been published under Heinlein's own name four years earlier.]]
[[File:Galaxy 195109.jpg|thumb|upright|The opening installment of ''The Puppet Masters'' took the cover of the September 1951 issue of ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]''.]]

The first novel that Heinlein wrote, ''[[For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs]]'' (1939), did not see print during his lifetime, but Robert James tracked down the manuscript and it was published in 2003. Though some regard it as a failure as a novel,<ref name="aolbio"/> considering it little more than a disguised lecture on Heinlein's [[social theory|social theories]], some readers took a very different view. In a review of it, [[John Clute]] wrote:

<blockquote>I'm not about to suggest that if Heinlein had been able to publish [such works] openly in the pages of ''Astounding'' in 1939, SF would have gotten the future right; I would suggest, however, that if Heinlein, and his colleagues, had been able to publish adult SF in ''Astounding'' and its fellow journals, then SF might not have done such a grotesquely poor job of prefiguring something of the flavor of actually living here at the onset of 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/004356.html|title=Electrolite: 'He was the train we did not catch.'|publisher=nielsenhayden.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=October 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029170922/http://nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/004356.html|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

''For Us, the Living'' was intriguing as a window into the development of Heinlein's radical ideas about man as a [[social animal]], including his interest in [[free love]]. The root of many themes found in his later stories can be found in this book. It also contained a large amount of material that could be considered background for his other novels. This included a detailed description of the protagonist's treatment to avoid being banished to [[Coventry (short story)|Coventry]] (a lawless land in the Heinlein mythos where unrepentant law-breakers are exiled).<ref>{{Cite book|title=For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs|last=Robert A.|first=Heinlein|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2004|isbn=9780743261579|page=133}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Heinlein Amazing 5304.jpg|thumb|left|Heinlein as depicted in ''Amazing Stories'' in 1953]]

It appears that Heinlein at least attempted to live in a manner consistent with these ideals, even in the 1930s, and had an [[open relationship]] in his marriage to his second wife, Leslyn. He was also a [[Naturism|nudist]];<ref name="hine-line_soc"/> nudism and body [[taboo]]s are frequently discussed in his work. At the height of the [[Cold War]], he built a [[air-raid shelter|bomb shelter]] under his house, like the one featured in ''[[Farnham's Freehold]]''.<ref name="hine-line_soc"/>

After ''For Us, the Living'', Heinlein began selling (to magazines) first short stories, then novels, set in a [[Future History (Heinlein)|Future History]], complete with a time line of significant political, cultural, and technological changes. A chart of the future history was published in the May 1941 issue of ''Astounding''. Over time, Heinlein wrote many novels and short stories that deviated freely from the Future History on some points, while maintaining consistency in some other areas. The Future History was eventually overtaken by actual events. These discrepancies were explained, after a fashion, in his later World as Myth stories.

Heinlein's first novel published as a book, ''[[Rocket Ship Galileo]]'', was initially rejected because going to the Moon was considered too far-fetched, but he soon found a publisher, [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner's]], that began publishing a Heinlein [[young adult literature|juvenile]] once a year for the Christmas season.<ref>Robert A. Heinlein, ''Expanded Universe'', foreword to "Free Men", p. 207 of Ace paperback edition.</ref> Eight of these books were illustrated by [[Clifford Geary]] in a distinctive white-on-black [[scratchboard]] style.<ref>{{cite web |author=Alexei Panshin |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dimension/hd03-1.html |title=Heinlein in Dimension, Chapter 3, Part 1 |publisher=Enter.net |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=July 31, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020731131454/http://panshin.com/critics/Dimension/hd03-1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some representative novels of this type are ''[[Have Space Suit—Will Travel]]'', ''[[Farmer in the Sky]]'', and ''[[Starman Jones]]''. Many of these were first published in serial form under other titles, e.g., ''Farmer in the Sky'' was published as ''Satellite Scout'' in the [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] magazine ''[[Boys' Life]]''. There has been speculation that Heinlein's intense obsession with his privacy was due at least in part to the apparent contradiction between his unconventional private life{{clarify|date=June 2020}} and his career as an author of books for children. However, ''For Us, the Living'' explicitly discusses the political importance Heinlein attached to privacy as a matter of principle.{{refn|1=The importance Heinlein attached to privacy was made clear in his fiction, ''e.g.'', ''For Us, the Living'', but also in several well-known examples from his life. He had a falling out with [[Alexei Panshin]], who wrote an important book analyzing Heinlein's fiction; Heinlein stopped cooperating with Panshin because he accused Panshin of "[attempting to] pry into his affairs and to violate his privacy". Heinlein wrote to Panshin's publisher threatening to sue, and stating, "You are warned that only the barest facts of my private life are public knowledge&nbsp;...".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/StoryHiD/HiDF.htm |title=The Story of Heinlein in Dimension, 6 |first=Alexei |last=Panshin |website=Panshin.com |access-date=December 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224095534/http://www.panshin.com/critics/StoryHiD/HiDF.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Heinlein was a nudist, and built a fence around his house in Santa Cruz to keep out the counterculture types who had learned of his ideas through ''Stranger in a Strange Land''. In his later life, Heinlein studiously avoided revealing his early involvement in left-wing politics,<ref name="Perry A">{{cite web |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Perry/perryA.htm |title=Ham and Eggs and Heinlein, 1 |first=Thomas |last=Perry |website=Panshin.com |access-date=December 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113014/http://www.panshin.com/critics/Perry/perryA.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> and made strenuous efforts to block publication of information he had revealed to prospective biographer Sam Moskowitz.<ref name="Perry A" />}}

The novels that Heinlein wrote for a young audience are commonly called "the Heinlein juveniles", and they feature a mixture of adolescent and adult themes. Many of the issues that he takes on in these books have to do with the kinds of problems that adolescents experience. His protagonists are usually intelligent teenagers who have to make their way in the adult society they see around them. On the surface, they are simple tales of adventure, achievement, and dealing with stupid teachers and jealous peers. Heinlein was a vocal proponent of the notion that juvenile readers were far more sophisticated and able to handle more complex or difficult themes than most people realized. His juvenile stories often had a maturity to them that made them readable for adults. ''[[Red Planet (novel)|Red Planet]]'', for example, portrays some subversive themes, including a revolution in which young students are involved; his editor demanded substantial changes in this book's discussion of topics such as the use of weapons by children and the misidentified sex of the Martian character. Heinlein was always aware of the editorial limitations put in place by the editors of his novels and stories, and while he observed those restrictions on the surface, was often successful in introducing ideas not often seen in other authors' juvenile SF.

In 1957, [[James Blish]] wrote that one reason for Heinlein's success "has been the high grade of machinery which goes, today as always, into his story-telling. Heinlein seems to have known from the beginning, as if instinctively, technical lessons about fiction which other writers must learn the hard way (or often enough, never learn). He does not always operate the machinery to the best advantage, but he always seems to be aware of it."<ref>[[James Blish]], ''The Issues at Hand'', p. 52.</ref>