My Object All Sublime Explained

My Object All Sublime is a science fiction short story written by Robert A. Heinlein, originally printed under the pen name Lyle Monroe, in the February 1942 issue of Future magazine.^[1] Its plot follows an invisible man through his adventures.

The title is taken from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado:

"My object all sublime I shall achieve in time —

To let the punishment fit the crime —

The punishment fit the crime;

And make each prisoner pent

Unwillingly represent

A source of innocent merriment —

Of innocent merriment."

Heinlein considered this story one of his "stinkeroos", according to the Heinlein Society, which lists it with the other two on their "Frequently Asked Questions About Robert A. Heinlein, His Works" Web Page. Published copies of this story are very difficult to find, and along with "Beyond Doubt" and "Pied Piper", "My Object All Sublime" comprises "The Lost Three" stories written by Heinlein.^[2] The three were included in the 2005 posthumous Heinlein collection Off the Main Sequence.

References

Web site: Title: My Object All Sublime . www.isfdb.org . en-us . 2017-10-09. Title: Future Combined with Science Fiction, Date : February 1942, Author/Editor: Lyle Monroe/ed. Robert W. Lowndes, Publisher: Columbia Publications, Inc., Price: $0.15, Pages:116, Type:pulp mag, Cover Artist: Hannes Bok
Web site: FAQ: Heinlein's Works . www.heinleinsociety.org . 2017-10-09. What are the "Lost Three" stories?These are three short stories published in the early 1940s that are rather hard to find. Heinlein called them "stinkeroos". The stories are:Beyond Doubt, (co-author Elma Wentz), Astonishing Stories, April 1941, Republished in Beyond the End of Time (ed Fred Pohl, 1952), Political Science Fiction (ed Martin H. Greenberg and Patricia S. Warrick, 1974), Election Day 2084 (ed. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg, 1984). My Object All Sublime, Future, February 1942 Pied Piper, Astonishing, March 1942 (never republished)