Stranger in a Strange Land

Best-selling 1961 Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel
Smith, a human raised raised on Mars (by Martians), returns to Earth as a young adult. He is then held in a hospital (confined in a hydraulic bed) by the government, who pressures him to transfer any rights he may have to ownership of Mars.

Smith has psychic abilities and superhuman intelligence – not too surprising since his biological parents were geniuses.

Nurse Gillian, the first female he’s ever seen, becomes his “water brother” by sharing a glass of water with him, (a Martian tradition.) Now Smith in inextricably bound to her.

The rest of the story is a tale of his avoiding authorities, making friends and eventual attempt to transform culture unto a better more humane Earth,(more Martian-like.)
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Amazon.com
Stranger in a Strange Land, winner of the 1962 Hugo Award, is the story of Valentine Michael Smith, born during, and the only survivor of, the first manned mission to Mars. Michael is raised by Martians, and he arrives on Earth as a true innocent: he has never seen a woman and has no knowledge of Earth’s cultures or religions. But he brings turmoil with him, as he is the legal heir to an enormous financial empire, not to mention de facto owner of the planet Mars. With the irascible popular author Jubal Harshaw to protect him, Michael explores human morality and the meanings of love. He founds his own church, preaching free love and disseminating the psychic talents taught him by the Martians. Ultimately, he confronts the fate reserved for all messiahs.

The impact of Stranger in a Strange Land was considerable, leading many children of the 60’s to set up households based on Michael’s water-brother nests. Heinlein loved to pontificate through the mouths of his characters, so modern readers must be willing to overlook the occasional sour note (“Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it’s partly her fault.”). That aside, Stranger in a Strange Land is one of the master’s best entertainments, provocative as he always loved to be. Can you grok it?
–Brooks Peck –This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.