Apollo : An Eyewitness Account By Astronaut/Explorer Artist/Moonwalker

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Summary: He's the best!
Review: If you want to experience the moon through the eyes of an artist and an astronaut this book is for you! It is inspiring and educational. Highly recommeded!

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Summary: A different World
Review: The narrative was easy to read and the paintings took me traveling to places I'll never see. It makes the space program seem real - real people, real problems, and very real emotions. The cover of the book itself is unusual so it also makes an interesting display item. I really liked it.

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Summary: One word for this book: "Amazing!"
Review: This book captures the feeling of what it's like to actually BE THERE. Alan Bean's artwork is breathtaking and offers new perspectives on the wonder of space exploration. His use of color is eyepopping and grabs your attention and holds it. You are literally drawn into every painting and I found myself mesmerized by thousands of details. The picture of a "birds-eye view" of a golfball taking flight over the moon is one I will never forget! This is a must have book if you are yearning for an idea of what it's like to take a magical look through the visor of a space suit.

Rating:
Summary: One word for this book: "Amazing!"
Review: This book captures the feeling of what it's like to actually BE THERE. Alan Bean's artwork is breathtaking and offers new perspectives on the wonder of space exploration. His use of color is eyepopping and grabs your attention and holds it. You are literally drawn into every painting and I found myself mesmerized by thousands of details. The picture of a "birds-eye view" of a golfball taking flight over the moon is one I will never forget! This is a must have book if you are yearning for an idea of what it's like to take a magical look through the visor of a space suit.

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Summary: The closest I'll ever get to being in space.
Review: This book is wonderful, in that we get to see the Moon and space from the perspective of someone who has been there. I've seen lot of photos of the Moon, but these paintings have soul that no photo ever will. The personal stories about each scene and of his fellow astronauts only add to the awe and wonder of this other world.

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Summary: Impressionistic Representations of Apollo
Review: This is a nice addition to the currently available literature on the Apollo program. For those who are unfamiliar with Alan Bean's work, it is more impressionistic, rather than focusing on complete, detailed accuracy. Those who watched "From the Earth to the Moon" and expect the same kind of art may be disappointed. However, Bean's work adds another layer to the basic photographs we've already seen, incorporating the sense of grandeur and "magnificent desolation" that the astronauts were able to experience. Chaikin's text does not add anything that was not already covered in his book, so don't purchase this text to find out new facts about Apollo. DO purchase this book for the paintings. It makes you want to own a Bean original!

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Summary: A fine collection of paintings from one who was there!
Review: We have seen many of the photos, but now, we have a different perspective of the greatest journey of exploration in the history of man. Al Bean seems to be just as good an artist as he was an astronaut. Bean displays some of his great work depicting important moments from the 6 missions to land on the moon. For every painting there is an explanation so the reader knows what they are looking at. From Dave Scott and his Galileo demonstration to the first moonwalk of Neil Armstrong, Al Bean has done some paintings that make this book a gem. I highly encourage any person who is interested in space exploration, art or American History to buy this book. Al Bean has done a fantastic job!

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Summary: Beautiest paintings I ever seen
Review: When I bought this book, I expected something different. But I find something extraordinary. I thought that I'll found same vibrant text as in Andy Chaikin's other excellent book, A Man on the Moon, but this text contain a little bit many interferences with his other book. I don't say that text is bad, but...
However Alan Bean's paintings compensate all my dissappointment. Many-many magnificent snapshot, only the point of view different. After thousand photos of Apollo, these paintings still offer news. I simply stood open mouthed.
Who want only delight about Apollo, but don't more know, must buy.

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Summary: Apollo : An Eyewitness Account By Astronaut/Explorer Artist/
Review: With the descent of the lunar lander Intrepid, Apollo 12 astronaut Bean became the fourth man to walk on the moon. Since his retirement from NASA in 1981, Bean has devoted himself to his realist paintings; this handsome volume allows him to display both his artistic skills and his orbital experience, reproducing dozens of Bean's paintings of lunar surfaces, moonwalks, astronaut gear and so on, alongside a blow-by-blow narrative of Apollo 12, which Chaikin (The National Air and Space Museum Book of Aviation and Space Flight) has written very much from Bean's perspective. Chaikin and Bean describe the thrills and setbacks on the latter's path from naval aviator to astronaut, his first view of the blue-and-white Earth from 293,000 miles and the technical problems of making sure an American flag stays up on the moon. Final chapters track Bean's adventures with the paint and canvas he took up in 1974 ("Flying skills are so much like painting skills, it's amazing"), the exploits and close calls of other astronauts and Bean's hopes for his art and for space exploration. Short paragraphs in which Bean explains his pictures' subjects and techniques alternate with the longer segments of narrative; this format can make the whole book seem scattered, though the images, and the anecdotes, retain undeniable power. The meticulously detailed paintings themselves add warmth and a mid-19th-century softness to the photos and equipment on which many of them are based.