Starman Jones (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

_This is one of the few books that I read as a boy that stuck with me all the rest of my life. While I never studied to be an "astrogator", this book did inspire me to study astronomy, navigation, physics, and calculus. It gave me a dream to build on. You see, the hero, Max, is a poor, rural kid from a highly dysfunctional and abusive family (actually, "white trash" is more accurate.) Being lower class, Max has no realistic chance of going to college or entering a profession ( a "guild".) Yet he not only escapes, he goes on to captain a starship. He succeeds entirely on his own against incredible odds. Instead of accepting a life of rural idiocy and poverty he literally remakes himself and his destiny from the ground up.

_Whenever I was up against it in my own life I inevitably remembered Max. How many modern books provide an example like this for "lower class" kids? My only regret is that there wasn't an Astrogator's Guild that I could have joined. If Max could cut it, so could I...

I have been a fan of Robert A. Heinlein since I was 8 years old. This book is from what many consider his most creative period. The so-called juveniles he wrote for Charles Scribners Sons had an immediate and lasting impact. None of them has ever been out of print. This is despite their awful titles and their original target audience.

Maximilian Jones is from a poor family. The star of the family was his late Uncle Chester who was a member of the Astrogator's Guild. Max runs away from home with his Uncle's astrogation manuals with a vague notion of following in his Uncle's footsteps. Along the way he meets with and is robbed by another tramp, Sam.

In a interesting twist of events, this thief becomes the best friend a man ever had. Between the Max's brilliance and Sam's avarice and cunning,their mutual loyalty, and series of fortunate and unfortunate events, Max achieves his goal.

Obviously a novel written during the fifties has dated technology. The ships computer is two steps above Eniac. There are effectively no female crewmen. But none this detracts from a fine story. Along the way lessons are given, regarding leadership, friendship, responsibility and of all things rule of law.

Having read this as a child, I did not understand everything at the time that I read it. But as I grew older the lessons learned helped me in life.

The book is still an excellent read even if you're an adult. Personally I have gone so far as to track down an old library hardcover with the original illustrations.

It is unfortunate that Heinlein has received a lot of press for some of the worst things he wrote for an adult audience, such as _Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_. His genius was in his "juvenile novels" -- the stories he wrote for serialization in boy scout magazines, later published as books.

Max Jones dropped out of high school to support his lazy irresponsible stepmother by working on their farm, which has only those amenities that would have been commonplace in 1850. But he dreams of becoming an astrogator aboard a starship like his late Uncle Chet, who instructed him in that profession. When his stepmother marries a man who is uneducated and cannot appreciate his ambition, Max leaves. The world being badly mismanaged, he must hitchhike to the city of Earthport to find out whether he has been appointed his uncle's professional heir.

I will not give away spoilers, but herewith I will tease you a little bit. Heinlein was a graduate of the Naval Academy, where he learned some of the laws in force aboard ships. While Max is serving aboard a ship that has become lost and set down on an unknown planet, with no realistic hope of finding its way home, the First Officer explains to the passengers and crew certain legal rights and obligations that apply in such an emergency. A passenger objects: "There are no laws HERE." The First Officer corrects him, saying the law goes where the ship goes. That sets the context for a climax several chapters later, involving legal, moral, political, and psychological aspects of leadership in an emergency.

The book dramatizes the role of intelligent purposefulness in human life. A scene occupying about the first four pages of the second chapter is a beautiful example: Max is alone facing difficulties and using his head.

The book has various readily identifiable flaws, which it would be easy for me to list. Those don't matter at all.