Title: Far from his best
Product review: I first read this book when it came out in 1980 (I was a *huge* Heinlein fan at the time), and I remember being vaguely disappointed with it at the time. Now, having read it again 20 years later, I'm no more impressed with it.Part of Heinlein's charm to me has always been his ability to make his characters so likeable, regardless of where his plots took them. He's managed that early on with this book - but he soon gets bogged down with trying (and never really succeeding) to be clever. The convoluted 'storyline' soon takes over, but never goes anywhere satisfactory - or even particularly entertaining. It's just one literary reference/gag after another, none of them particularly clever or satisfying to this reader. Even the Heinlein in-jokes and references don't have the charm to pull this book out of the mire it's stuck in.Not his best, not by a mile.
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