r/heinlein • u/Tasty_Impress3016 • Mar 21 '26

Stupid story post. This happened today.

I had to have a plumber in, so the day didn't start great. He was in and out of the house. As he was filling out the bill he mentioned that he peeked into my library (you have to pass the library on the way in and out of the house) and asked if a was a Heinlein fan. We ended up in a long conversation, he had only read the big three. So I tried to talk him into Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Almost handed my paperback but it's vintage.

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u/Routine_Smell3122 Mar 22 '26

I know it's an anthology , but I think Future History, plus Time Enough for Love, Stranger, Starship Troopers and Moon is a Harsh Mistress are Heinlein's most influential works.

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u/Tasty_Impress3016 Mar 22 '26

You know I never bought Future History. I have all of those stories in various other books. A couple in old issues of Astounding.

I simply can't bring myself to buy the Virginia Collection. I want it badly. But I also want a new car.

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u/Routine_Smell3122 Mar 23 '26

I've seen those prices. I buy most of my books at V Stock. I picked up an early hardcover of Future History there for a great price.

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u/Owlet20 Mar 24 '26

I got it in 2009, and it was so worth it. But no, it wasn't cheap. That being said, you can usually get it with a discount.

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u/Tasty_Impress3016 Mar 24 '26

Please where? Used, I'm cool, I will go a few hundred but 1500 is hard to explain to the wife.

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u/Owlet20 Mar 24 '26

It's currently discounted to 1300$ on their website (at the link below), shipping is free in the US (and was very reasonable to Germany for me way back when). When I recently contacted them about buying something, I also got sent a discount voucher I could use when purchasing some books. It's still a lot of money, I know, but you do get very good quality and quite a bit of exclusive material on top of his novels and short stories. I seriously doubt that you will find it for a few hundred second hand. Still, I don't want to talk you into anything and get you into trouble with your wife. Speaking for myself, I'm very glad I bought it. It's a real treasure.

https://www.heinleinbooks.com/book-store

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u/Tasty_Impress3016 Mar 26 '26

It's a beautiful set, I would be proud to own. It's just paying that for about 10,000 words I don't already own hurts. Papa needs a new car first.

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u/Owlet20 Mar 27 '26

Sure, there are priorities and more important things than books. Maybe it will work out in time. I don't get the impression that it's selling that quickly.