The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag

The stories in this collection are interesting. What is difficult is to read them now in the 21st C for the first time and to try and bracket out the stories published since this mid-20th C book that were influenced by it. As a result, I was able to predict the plot outcome early in the story simply because many stories since have emulated them. The first story is the namesake of the book is interesting and one of the stories that has not yet (to my knowledge) been yet thoroughly borrowed by subsequent writers. So although I suspected something like the conclusion, I was still a little surprised. All You Zombies is a fun time travel paradox but I think Heinlein did it better in his The Door Into Summer. He Built A Crooked House was also show more fun but it is clearly reflected in The Matrix movies by the Wachowskis (especially Reloaded) and also Inception with their play of the (meta) physics of houses and cities. There are three other stories in addition to these: The Man Who Traveled in Elephants, They, & Our Fair City. What binds all of the stories together in my mind is how central characters are not cognizant of the fact that they are not in possession of all of the facts and are to some extent pawns in a game they don’t know they are part of. This is early Heinlein, so I enjoyed it. But it is not his best. For short stories, his best are found in the collection The Past Through Tomorrow. That volume contains some of the best Sci Fi short stories I have read.

I like this rating system by ashleytylerjohn of LibraryThing (https://www.librarything.com/profile/ashleytylerjohn) that I have also adopted:
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful.) show less

This is a collection of one novella, the title story "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag," and five short stories, among them some of Heinlein's strongest. I really loved the opening novella, which is a mix of science fiction, fantasy, horror--and noir mystery. It focuses on a husband/wife detective team, Teddy Randall and Cynthia Craig. They really are among Heinlein's best drawn couples--I'm sorry we never saw more of them. At times I have my issues with how Heinlein drew women, but not in the case of Cyn. She comes across as brave and competent without ever being kittenish. I'm not particularly impressed with the story's premise or plot, but the characters made it for me. "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" is a sweet tale, show more and pure fantasy, not science fiction, but not to me a standout. "All You Zombies" is about a "temporal agent"--it's a twisty and memorable time travel story. "They" is an interesting study in paranoia--a theme that runs through most of the stories in this collection. "Our Fair City" features one of my favorite Heinlein characters--"Kitten"--a whirlwind. I'd call "And He Built a Crooked House" unique--and unforgettable. A story surely only an engineer such as Heinlein could have conceived. All of these stories are well worth the read--particularly if you're a science fiction or Heinlein fan. show less

Six stories (five short, one novella) of Heinlein's that were published from 1941-59. I don't remember how it came to be in my possession, but it'd been on my nightstand for years. I got tired of looking at, so now seemed like a good time to read it.

My expectations were low, due to the publication dates of the stories. Typically, I've found that sci-fi doesn't age well. But I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality. Only two of the stories really were sci-fi, though they all had speculative elements in them. Magic realism played more of a role in in the others. All of the stories would've made for solid Twilight Zone episodes.

The title track, a novella published in 1942, opens the book. Mr. Hoag can't remember what he does all show more day, so he hires a husband and wife private eye duo to figure it out. It was a surprisingly good mystery.

A widower recalls his salesman past, traveling the country with his wife in "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" (1957). A bit shmaltzy.

"'—All You Zombies—'" (1959) is probably one of the strangest time travel stories that I've ever read. I can't say anything more without ruining it. Probably the best story in the bunch.

"They" (1941) is a tale of paranoia. Our unnamed protagonist thinks the whole world is a lie, a simulation meant to keep him preoccupied, from discovering some grand malevolent plot. Everyone is either a robot or one of the conspirators. Kinda predictable now, but maybe it wasn't back then.

"Our Fair City" (1948) is a whimsical tale of a reporter investigating corruption in the city's government with the help of his friend's domesticated dust devil.

An architect is looking for the next big thing in home design in "'—And He Built a Crooked House—'." Pretty speculative for its day (1941) as the architect tries to explain what a tesseract is to an investor.

Recommended for Heinlein completists, people who like Twilight Zone style stories, or those who either appreciate or are curious about the early days of speculative fiction. show less

The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag Hoag determines he suffers from a daily bout of amnesia and cannot remember what he does or where he goes during the day, including how he earns his living. He hires a pair of investigators to determine this. .. Clever twist, but mostly a 'meh' story.
The Man Who Traveled in Elephants A man who spent his life on the road with his late wife visiting all kinds of fairs and exhibitions, takes a bus to a fair unlike any other he's seen before. .. Mostly a description of the incredible fair, but a lovely ending.
"All You Zombies" The story of the "Unmarried Mother" .. I've read this one before; it's been collected elsewhere quite a bit, I believe, but it's still a fun one every time.
They A man in show more conversation with his psychiatrist. He's convinced the world is created for his benefit alone and he's the only conscious human. All others are playacting around him for nefarious purposes. .. I wonder if the writers/creators of The Truman Show were influenced by this one? An interesting thought-experiment.
Our Fair City A newspaper writer meets a conscious whirlwind. .. Cute story, but a little confusing. This news guy has a real beef with City Hall.
"And He Built a Crooked House Architect tries to explain and then build a house that's a tesseract. .. This was a lot of fun, but I feel bad for the guy who paid for the construction. (p.s. Why does spell check not know the word Tesseract?) show less

Published 1942. The revelation of all the weirdness is... weird. It's solid Heinlein work, but it feels more experimental than some of his other work. I think this story could be done well today (with a few adaptations) as a movie or miniseries. 3.5/5 stars.

In an 'in-between' read I picked up "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" by Robert A. Heinlein, a short novel about a man with memory loss (something that has come up in my reading a lot lately).
Jonathan Hoag is a man who goes to work everyday. Pretty normal. However, he doesn't know where he works or what he does. He does find something weird and disgusting under his fingernail, and when he asks a doctor to check it, the doctor gets angry at him and throws him out. To find out what it is that he does (and is apparently so disgustingly strange), he hires Ted and Cynthia Randall, private detectives, to shadow him. Together they figure out the strange story of the creation of the world...
The book itself is pretty short, and still show more manages to present a pretty far out creation story. Because of the shortness of the book a lot of big ideas get presented in a short time. Like most short, older books (my version is from 1969, original from 1959), I wished it was longer. Still, it is pretty original and a fun read, three out of five stars. show less

Robert Heinlein is one of the finest science fiction writer of the twentieth century. 6 x H is a collection of a novella, "The unpleasant profession of Jonathan Hoag," and five short stories. Hoag is a gentleman who goes to work but has no memory of what happens during the day. When he finds a strange substance under his nails, he asks two detectives to help him sort it all out. Teddy and Cynthia find themselves getting into more than they bargained for.

The other five stories are vintage Heinlein. A travelling salesman gets to attend a fair; an unmarried mother asks questions; a man struggles in an insane asylum; a whirlwind named Kitten keeps trash she finds; and, the best story in the book, an architect builds a house in four show more dimensions.

This is vintage Heinlein, unlike many of his later works which are different from the early years. show less