I’ m reading Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue With Hi s Century, by William A. Patterson. Worth reading, in my estimation.
In a letter to Campbell, his long-time editor, he is arguing to keep nudism and other aspects of culture in a story.
“Puritanism is not simply, nor even primarily, a matter of sex and modesty. We are living in a period of Puritanism (or moral authoritarianism) but most people are totally unaware of it because we have dropped some of the superficial trappings of traditional puritanism. It is impossible to overemphasize the influence of moral dogmatism in this culture.“
That quote, alone, makes the book worth the price. Heinlein is spot-on about the moral authoritarianism of America, and how it persists even without the sexual aspects.
