Background Knowledge: This is part of my attempt to read more science fiction. I mostly got this book because a sexy woman was on the cover. Maybe not the best motivation for my first Heinlein book. This is part of Heinlein’s “late period” novels, which some also construe as his “dirty old man” phase. If this book was any indication, they weren’t totally far off. 

Author: Robert A. Heinlein

Version: Phoenix Pick Books, 2017, 367 pages

Book Report Summary: Friday (1982) the book is about Friday, an artificial person who works as a courier for a secret quasi-military organization. It’s framed as a memoir written by the protagonist after the fact. The story starts while Friday is in a middle of a mission, where she is captures, raped, and tortured, but then rescued by her organization. After the mission, Friday is forced to take a break and returns to her home in New Zealand, where she lives as part of a polygamous group family. When Friday reveals she is an artificial person, she is kicked out, and befriends another polygamous couple from British Canada on her way back to HQ. During her time with the couple, the world is shaken by various assassinations dubbed “Red Thursday.” Friday is forced to leave British Canada due to her foreigner status, leading her to travel across the various former American states to get back to HQ. However, shortly after Friday returns her organization is disbanded, leaving her homeless once again. After a brief stay in Las Vegas, Friday is hired to transport genetic material off Earth. Once off Earth, Friday manages to finally find a home on a colony and forms a new family with the people she met along her journey.

Themes (I Think):

Discrimination: In this book, the main character is an Artificial Person, or “AP.” As such, Friday is subject to resentment and discrimination by natural born humans. Friday tries to “pass” as a regular human, but gets frustrated when others express their discrimination towards APs. The book uses genetically engineered humans to discuss discrimination that mirrors racist attitudes shared in the real world.

Capitalism: Almost everything in this book depends on money. Even marriages are treated as financial contracts, with each party bringing in a portion of wealth to the union. Several chapters revolve around Friday getting enough money to proceed to her next destination.

Corporations in Politics: The background events in the book, including “Red Thursday” are all a result of corporate action. The series of war and political upheaval described in the book are due to Corporate warfare.

Free-Love: The book seems to advocate for free-love and open sexuality in society. Friday is very sexually active, taking many lovers throughout the story. Both male and female. Some for personal reasons, others on a whim. The main type of relationships are polygamous, with Friday entering at least three different polygamous relationships throughout the book.

Self-Image: The character Friday is plagued with self-doubt and is self-conscious about her status as an Artificial Person. She does not consider herself human. Despite being engineered to be stronger, faster, and more attractive than natural-born humans, Friday does not consider herself to be all that special. She often criticizes herself for any mistakes. Though she takes multiple lovers, she does not consider herself to be good looking. She is also dependent on other people, particularly the “Boss,” her father figure. It is only by the end of the story that Friday finds personal fulfillment.

Found Family: Most of the supporting characters in the book act as Friday’s found family. As an artificial person, Friday does not have a natural family. She often says that “her mother was a test tube and her father was a knife.” As such, Friday often joins herself with pre-existing families through the story. Notably, all these families are polygamous in nature.

How to best read it: Friday (1982) by Robert A. Heinlein is both progressive and outdated. Any reader should understand that coming in. It’s a book that showcases the downfall of corporate politics, the freedom of sexual liberation, and the potential for group families. But it’s also a book about a sexy clone sleeping her way across America (and parts of New Zealand). It definitely has “old man writing women” voice, which make the protagonist sometimes sound more like a gender commentator than person. Some of Heinlein later books have a reputation for espousing his libertarian beliefs, but I didn’t catch that. I’d argue it espouses his utopian view more than his libertarian views. The man seemed to really believe in communal living and free sex. The book does have a lot of sex in it, because Friday has a lot of sex, but nothing explicit. The worst part happens in the first few chapters, where Friday is gang raped. This is the worst thing that happens to Friday, and if you can get past that, you can get past the rest of the book. The book is lacking in plot, and doesn’t have much stakes for the protagonist outside of getting some money. Certain chapters may bore you, but Heinlein is a strong enough writer to keep you semi-interested for the entire story.

My reaction while reading it (spoilers): I get it Heinlein, you really wish that having sex with people was easier. We all do. Did you really need to write a whole book about it? I keep repeating the sexual aspect of Friday (1982) because that’s it’s most notable feature. It’s other stuff isn’t that interesting. The discrimination against Artificial People was interesting, but it’s ignored halfway through the book. The theme of corporate influence on politics is relegated more to the background. It seemed to me that Heinlein was more interested on talking about group families, as Friday joins about 3 different polygamous couples throughout the story. Yeah, if everyone consents, it seem great. But what of it? Again, a lot of this seemed like the authors way to discuss his personal belief on sex and relationships. Speaking of which, Heinlein has some interesting things to say about women. Friday’s ability to compartmentalize her sexual assault and torture was a little disturbing. I get that she’s a super spy (or “military courier”), but still. I liked Friday, but she is very much a genetically engineered woman who is sexually free, super capable, and literally does not recognize how attractive she is. All this just made me super aware that I was reading a stereotypical book. Story wise–eh. Despite the rocky start, Friday was best when she was on a mission or on the run. But these moments are brief and far apart. The bulk of this book has Friday hanging out with other people. The worst were probably the couple Friday lived with in British Canada, if only because Heinlein’s attempt at writing young intellectuals was aggravating (much like talking to real young intellectuals). I feel like I’m being very negative about this book, but that’s only because it has a lot of unpack concerning the author’s viewpoints. It’s not a horrible book, and it has enough to make it to the end.

Personal Grade: C-

Best Moment: Friday negotiating terms for her last job (I wish I got to see more of Friday the professional!)

Worst Moment: The Tormeys (B-O-R-I-N-G)

Personal read time: 2 months