It is a Heinlein book, however. Like the others, some key themes stand out: people of extrodinary intelligence being morally superior, tanstaafl (there aint no such thing as a free lunch) and wanton sexuality. Honestly, if this were all the book was, I would avoid it. However, like many of his novels, Friday has a great plot.
Friday is a novel which explores the idea of an artificial person designed to be better than any other human, a clone if you will, who attempts to find her place in society and save herself from its pitfalls. The plot seems very relevent today with the current controversy over cloning. While I do not agree with his conclusions about the issue, I think he does explore it from some interesting angles.
The book is written in first person and, although he tries, I do not believe that Heinlein writes a believable female character from that perspective.
Over all, this is not a great book, but it is a good book and it deserves to be read and perhaps reread.
The real lesson of this book is quite simple: we are all human, regardless of our genetic mix, and racism is baseless nonsense. In case the metaphor of Friday the artificial person was too subtle for some science fiction fans, Heinlein beats us over the head with a subplot about a white family that disowns their daughter for marrying a Pacific Islander.
Many great Heinleinesque touches fill out the story, including some lessons on genetic engineering, and satires on several North American subcultures (most notably California and Quebec). Friday's observations on the dangers of credit cards, and the ability of people to trace your life through the worldwide computer network, are hauntingly apt considering they were written in the early 1980's.
About the only point where Heinlein drops the ball is with Friday's reaction to her rape, and her reaction when she meets one of her rapists face to face. Definitely an embarrassment for Heinlein, but if this doesn't make you throw away the book in disgust, the rest of the book is quite well done.