For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Robert A. Heinlein |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Scribner |
| Released | November 28, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7432-5998-X (first edition, hardback) |
For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, written in 1938 but published for the first time in 2003. Heinlein admirer and science fiction author Spider Robinson entitled his introductory essay "RAH DNA", as he believes this first, unpublished novel formed the DNA of Heinlein's philosophy.
For Us, the Living contains an afterword by Robert James, Ph.D., Heinlein Society member and Heinlein scholar.
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[edit] Plot summary
In the novel, Perry Nelson, a normal 1939 engineer, is driving his automobile when he has a blowout, skids over a cliff, and wakes up after the car accident in the year 2086. Though he apparently was killed in the summer he is saved from the freezing cold by a fur-clad woman named Diana.
Spider Robinson says that the book is more a lecture series than a true novel. A number of people have remarked on its resemblance to H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come. The character Diana's background is clarified in a multiple-page footnote from the author. The future society has a Social Credit structure — something which may come as a surprise to those who were not acquainted with Heinlein's early leftist leanings.
The title comes from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and appears to have no relation to Ayn Rand's similarly titled We the Living (published in 1936). Earnings from the novel will be going to the advancement of human exploration of space.
For Us, the Living contains many foreshadowings of Heinlein's later writings. The 2086 of the book has a significant resemblance to both Beyond This Horizon and the Earth of Methuselah's Children. Other familiar elements include Nehemiah Scudder (a religious leader in the Future History who comes to dominate the U.S.), the "Covenant" from Coventry, a variation on Starship Troopers's suffrage only through federal service, and a cat as a minor character.
[edit] Concepts and Themes
[edit] Economic Independence
At a number of points in For Us, the Living, Heinlein describes an environment in which individuals are able to choose whether or not to accept a job. Passing references are made to the large number of individuals who take up art or other careers that traditionally do not pay well. The book also points out the short working hours and high wages paid to employees. The book ascribes this flexible working environment to the social credit system (the "Dividend") adopted by the United States.
For Us, the Living also depicts an early example of homesourcing in fiction. The character of Diana, a nationally-renowned dancer, is shown performing in her own home for a broadcast audience, which sees her dancing on sets added by the broadcasting company to her original feed. The mechanism for this homesourcing is not described in much technical detail, but it appears to be similar to a high-definition video signal interfaced with something like modern chroma key technology.
[edit] Editions
- January 2004, Scribner Book Company, ISBN 5-551-28585-5
- January 2004, Scribner Book Company, ISBN 5-551-28586-3
- January 6, 2004, Scribner, hardcover, 288 pages, ISBN 0-7432-5998-X
- December 1, 2004, Pocket Books, paperback, 352 pages, ISBN 0-7434-9154-8
