> However, after they get the Evil and Corrupt One
>World Government off their backs and Mike and
>Jill go out on their own, the book falls apart
>and just becomes Heinlen's great rambling
>commentary on Life, the Universe and Everything
>Else.


From what I've read of Heinlein, and what I've heard directly from Heinlein fans, this is basically all they want out of a Heinlein book. It seems to me that his fans want to hear his one or two cool ideas, then listen to him tell them exactly how the world *should* be, and would be if he were in charge, dang it. They have this hero worship thing going over Heinlein, and they want him to tell them how to feel about all things social, political, and religious. I'm sure this is a gross over-generalization (and I know Heinlein had more than one or two cool ideas ;-) but that's the impression I get every time I read a Heinlein book or talk to a die-hard Heinlein fan.

This particular book hit it so big because it came out in the sixties and espoused the typical hippie values of free love and all that. Of course, the conceit is that Mike uses $ex as a bonding among friends, and since he and everyone he surrounds himself with is incapable of jealousy, it all works out great. Of course, in the real world, if anybody tried to run a "church" like Mike had (and many have tried) it'd fall down around their ears as soon as jealousy and other natural human emotions reared their ugly head. But try telling that to a hippie.