Two major versions of this book exist:
- The 1961 version which, at the publisher's request, Heinlein cut by 25% in length. Approximately 60,000 words were removed from the original manuscript, including some sharp criticism of American attitudes toward sex and religion.[10] The book was marketed to a mainstream readership, and was the first science fiction novel to be listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for fiction. By 1997, over 100,000 copies of the hardback edition had been sold along with nearly five million copies of the paperback.[10] None of his later novels would match this level of success.[37]
- The 1991 version, retrieved from Heinlein's archives in the University of California, Santa Cruz, Special Collections Department by Heinlein's widow, Virginia, and published posthumously, which reproduces the original manuscript and restores all cuts. It came about because in 1989, Virginia renewed the copyright to Stranger and cancelled the existing publication contracts in accordance with the Copyright Act of 1976. Both Heinlein's agent and his publisher (which had new senior editors) agreed that the uncut version was better: readers are used to longer books, and what was seen as objectionable in 1961 was no longer so 30 years later.[38]
Heinlein himself remarked in a letter he wrote to Oberon Zell-Ravenheart in 1972 that he thought his shorter, edited version was better. He wrote, "SISL was never censored by anyone in any fashion. The first draft was nearly twice as long as the published version. I cut it myself to bring it down to a commercial length. But I did not leave out anything of any importance; I simply trimmed all possible excess verbiage. Perhaps you have noticed that it reads 'fast' despite its length; that is why. ... The original, longest version of SISL ... is really not worth your trouble, as it is the same story throughout – simply not as well told. With it is the brushpenned version which shows exactly what was cut out – nothing worth reading, that is. I learned to write for pulp magazines, in which one was paid by the yard rather than by the package; it was not until I started writing for the Saturday Evening Post that I learned the virtue of brevity."[9]
Additionally, since Heinlein added material while he was editing the manuscript for the commercial release, the 1991 publication of the original manuscript is missing some material that was in the novel when it was first published.[39]
Editions
Many editions exist:[40]
- June 1, 1961, Putnam Publishing Group, hardcover, ISBN 0-399-10772-X[41]
- Avon, NY, first paperback edition, 1962.
- 1965, New English Library Ltd, (London).
- March 1968, Berkley Medallion, paperback, ISBN 0-425-04688-5
- July 1970, New English Library Ltd, (London). 400 pages, paperback. (third 'new edition', August 1971 reprint, NEL 2844.)
- 1972, Capricorn Books, 408 pages, ISBN 0-399-50268-8
- October 1975, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-03067-9
- November 1977, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-03782-7
- July 1979, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-04377-0
- September 1980, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-04688-5
- July 1982, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-05833-6
- July 1983, Penguin Putnam, paperback, ISBN 0-425-06490-5
- January 1984, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-07142-1
- May 1, 1984, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-05216-8
- December 1984, Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 0-425-08094-3
- November 1986, Berkley Publishing Group, paperback, ISBN 0-425-10147-9
- 1989, Easton Press, leather bound hardcover, 414 pages
- January 1991, original uncut edition, Ace/Putnam, hardcover, ISBN 0-399-13586-3
- May 3, 1992, original uncut edition, Hodder and Stoughton, mass market paperback, 655 pages, ISBN 0-450-54742-6
- 1995, Easton Press (MBI, Inc.), original uncut edition, leather bound hardcover, 525 pages
- August 1, 1995, ACE Charter, paperback, 438 pages, ISBN 0-441-79034-8
- April 1, 1996, Blackstone Audio, cassette audiobook, ISBN 0-7861-0952-1
- October 1, 1999, Sagebrush, library binding, ISBN 0-8085-2087-3
- June 1, 2002, Blackstone Audio, cassette audiobook, ISBN 0-7861-2229-3
- January 2003, Turtleback Books distributed by Demco Media, hardcover, ISBN 0-606-25126-X
- November 1, 2003, Blackstone Audio, CD audiobook, ISBN 0-7861-8848-0
- March 14, 2005, Hodder and Stoughton, paperback, 655 pages, ISBN 0-340-83795-0
- October 25, 2016, Penguin Books, hardcover, 498 pages, ISBN 978-0143111627
- 2020, Folio Society, original uncut edition, slipcased hardcover, 616 pages
- 2021, Suntup Press, original uncut edition, slipcased hardcover, 636 pages, ISBN 1-951-15169-0
