Stranger in a Strange Land (The Sixties in America)

The Work

In Stranger in a Strange Land, Valentine Michael Smith, a human orphan raised by Martians, returns to Earth, where a gestapo oversees a totalitarian federation of nations. Lacking familiarity with human customs, Smith, like fugitive Moses, is “a stranger in a strange land” (Exodus 2:22). Smith is instructed by Jubal Harshaw, an aged, individualistic father figure who represents Heinlein’s views. Smith possesses special Martian-tutored mental powers (including telekinesis, levitation, and telepathy), and his educational use of them provides the plot for the...

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