American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

As we come close to wrapping up our look at Heinlein's 1947 works, we look at a short and not so significant story showing Heinlein trying to define courage. It is called "No Band Playing, No Flags Flying" and its a bit odd.

Frederick Douglass' amazing slave narrative probably does not need much of an introduction. Few works deconstruct all the myths of the Old South so efficiently.

While this is not quite a slave narrative, "The Confessions of Nat Turner" is testimony of one of the most famous American slaves (although the case can be made that he had already freed himself). While most slave narratives were weaponized in the anti-slavery struggle, this document was weaponized to justify strengthening the institution of slavery in the Antebellum South.

"Space Jockey" is another great science fiction story by Heinlein from 1947 published in the Saturday Evening Post. At the same time it is horribly quaint and seems a bit more like fantasy than science fiction. Someone moving from the gig economy to full time family-supporting employment? Not in this universe.

The conclusion of my thoughts on the slave narrative by Olaudah Equiano. In my view, in this narrative he parallels the struggle against slavery with his Christian journey for salvation, coming together into a call for action. Next we will jump to the antebellum slave narratives with the Confessions of Nat Turner.

"It's Great to be Back" is another 1947 Saturday Evening Post story by Robert A. Heinlein dealing with nostalgia for Earth and the human presence in space. A great story to pair with "The Green Hills of Earth".

In this wonderful short story, Heinlein tells us the history of a blind working class space poet, who also caught the essence of Earth's identity in space. One of his best.

The first of two episodes covering Olaudah Equiano's amazing slave narrative. It is a thematic. structural, and moral foundation of all other slave narratives. It is also an amazing story that everyone should read.

In this tiny story published in 1947 in STARTLING STORIES, Robert A. Heinlein explores the struggle for progress and how every generation builds off the courage of those that came before, and how we forget.

I am back from my summer break and start with a look at slave narratives. First up is the strange but significant account by James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw. It works as a narrative of the Atlantic working class and the benefits of Christianity, but never directly attacks slavery itself, making it one of the strangest slave narratives. However it was the first published in English.