As an exceedingly brief summary, this is the story of a brain transplant and the dual-sexed multiple personality that results from it.
I read this book the first time when I was about 15 or 16, I think, and it really hasn't stood up to my growth as an adult. I remember being especially thrilled by the idea of bodypaint that couldn't be distinguished from clothing, but in these days of the internet, that's hardly the unique idea it was to a testosterone-flooded teenager of 25 years ago.
Today, this book isn't about bodypaint, it's about Heinlein's man/woman stereotypes thrust into your face. There's not much more than dialogue in this book, and so there's no relief in plot exposition or anything else. There's just a constant back-and-forth inside the main character's head about how women and men should spend their time seeking pleasures of the flesh. Now, in normal circumstances, I think this is a great idea---pleasures of the flesh are quite pleasing, after all---but there's so much sexist baggage piled on top here that it often left an icky taste in my mouth.
Not one of Heinlein's best. 3/5.
I read this book the first time when I was about 15 or 16, I think, and it really hasn't stood up to my growth as an adult. I remember being especially thrilled by the idea of bodypaint that couldn't be distinguished from clothing, but in these days of the internet, that's hardly the unique idea it was to a testosterone-flooded teenager of 25 years ago.
Today, this book isn't about bodypaint, it's about Heinlein's man/woman stereotypes thrust into your face. There's not much more than dialogue in this book, and so there's no relief in plot exposition or anything else. There's just a constant back-and-forth inside the main character's head about how women and men should spend their time seeking pleasures of the flesh. Now, in normal circumstances, I think this is a great idea---pleasures of the flesh are quite pleasing, after all---but there's so much sexist baggage piled on top here that it often left an icky taste in my mouth.
Not one of Heinlein's best. 3/5.
