To Sail Beyond the Sunset

The Life and Loves of Maureen Johnson (Being the Memoirs of a Somewhat Irregular Lady)

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Maureen Johnson, the somewhat irregular mother of Lazarus Long, wakes up in bed with a man and a cat. The cat is Pixel, well-known to fans of the New York Times best seller The Cat Who Walks through Walls. The man is a stranger to her, and besides that, he is dead.

So begins Robert A. Heinlein’s To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Filled with the master’s most beloved characters, this compelling work broadens and enriches his epic vision of time and space, life and death, love and desire. It is also an autobiographical masterpiece—and a wondrous return to the alternate universes that all Heinlein fans have come to know and love.

©1987 Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein, trustees (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Thoughtprovoking…. Considerable wit and energy!” ( Newsday)

classic Late Heinlein

I have read much Heinlein and this was an interesting part that ties a lot of other stories together. This should not be your first RH book.

stories from and honest and relatable lady

This story explains what is going on in Maureen's current predicament while chronicling her personal past and family life. I very much enjoyed the whole book and would absolutely recommend it to anyone reading Heinlein or the world as a myth series.

Visiting old friends is wonderful

I first read this book in the 1950's.Reading it and several other Mathusala stories has reminded me how good "the good old days were !

Not for your first Heinlein read

I'm a Heinlein fan. I've been reading his works since my early teens starting with Starship Trooper (book report for 7th grade English). To Sail Beyond the Sunset is not his best work and comes quite late in the stories of Lazurus Long and the Howard Foundation novels. Don't read this one first. Start with Stranger in a Strange Land to meet Jubal Harshaw, then continue with Time Enough for Love (one of my favorites and one of Heinlein's best). Enough advice.

To Sail Beyond the Sunset is full of sex (including a lot of incest) as it tells the story of Mama Maureen through the centuries. The descriptions of sex are often quite graphic and definitely not for young readers (I'm not a prude but would rate this book a hard R if not NC-17). If you aren't familiar with this story line (Lazurus Long/Howard Families) you'll lack the context needed to see beyond the lewdness to understand the message of the novel.

Ms. Dunne's performance is very good. She paces just right and includes enough character inflection that one always knows who is talking.

Bottom line: if you're familiar with the story line, want another dose of Heinlein's bawdy writing and are curious about the fate of Mama Maureen, it's worth a credit.

Maureen book

I loved it as much as the first time I read it many years ago