Grumbles from the Grave by Robert A. Heinlein (edited by Virginia Heinlein) - Book Review

Ever read a book written by someone after they died? In a sense, this is what this book is. Grumbles from the Grave is a non-fiction work that contains the letters of Robert Heinlein and others back to him from throughout his career. This book was put together by Virginia Heinlein (Robert's wife) after Robert Heinlein's death, but it was his idea including the title.

In essence this book is edited correspondence between Heinlein, his agent and others that chronicles some of his struggles, thoughts and triumphs over the years of his career. There are chapters that cover various aspects of his life from his early career, his juvenile novels, his adult novels, his travels, his thoughts on life and the publishing industry of his time. There is much more as well about other topics. The reason it is called Grumbles from the Grave is that most of the correspondence focuses on the complaints he had about things and when people wanted to change his work.

What this book offers is a unique look inside the mind of Robert Heinlein. you see where he gets his ideas, how he develops his work, his motivation for writing and living and his conflicts with editors and publishers. It is very enlightening for a Heinlein fan to see that much of his realism came from being real. It is also interesting to see some of his dialogue in his books was inspired by some of this correspondence.

Stylistically, it is excerpts from real letters and they have been edited to get to the good parts. There are also several editor's notes from Virginia regarding certain subjects to help clarify and every one of them is helpful. In addition there are many pictures that show the man and his life around him.

Rating: 3 and three quarter stars. The big issue with this book is that if you are not a real fan of Robert Heinlein, it will not be entertaining to you unless you are a writer. In those two cases though, it gives good background on each book and many of the short stories as well. It also gives an inside look into the man who is considered the Grandmaster of Science Fiction. For the writer you can see that even the great writers have their struggles and that sometimes inspiration can come from odd places. I loved it but I am both a fan and a writer.