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Summary: Congress, what have you done?
Review: Gene's book is a fine read, and being a voracious reader of all things space, even I was shocked to read of the danger encountered by the early astros on their Gemini EVAs. It's too bad that he doesn't get very personal with his thoughts -- what was it like to stand on the moon and look back? Maybe it's too difficult to convey in words. But what makes me extremely angry is the way in which Congress and the administrations of LBJ to the present have put manned space exploration on the back burner. The '60's were heady days, we just didn't know it at the time. We now need a leader who can get us back into real exploration. Enough of this orbit-around-the-earth-in-the-boring-shuttle stuff. What a yawner! Get with it Congress -- give us our space program back.
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Summary: Thanks Mr. Cernan for one "great book" from one great man!
Review: mr. Cernan and Mr. Davis have done a 'SUPER 20 ' rating in this book! I have always dreamed of meeting Mr. Cernan; and he, along with Mr. Davis have taken me to the Moon, let me walk on it, and let me see all my life if being an astronaut would be for me or not, and told many interesting things that I never before knew. Also, I learned that not all astronauts from that era were all science, and no compassion; but have hearts and souls! This book should have been done 20 years ago! Boy! If all Apollo astros. wrote autobiographies like this, we wouldn't need to go to the Moon again; because you already took me there and brought me home safely-'Geno'! wOW! What a great book! It's been a long-time coming!
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Summary: What a ride!
Review: Eugene Cernan's conversational account of his participation in the Space Program takes the reader on one hell of a ride! His descriptions of blastoff, spacewalks, moonwalks, training, emotional highs and lows places one right in the middle of the action. I found it to be extremely entertaining, and not so techno as to bore the average reader. A definite A+.
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Summary: Last Man offers great insights
Review: The Last Man on the Moon provides a great read for anyone interested in the inside stories of the early NASA manned space program. It's all here from the intense astronaut rivalries, to family difficulties, to the harrowing stories of failures and work arounds. These are the stories NASA wouldn't release to the public including Cernan's near tragic spacewalk on Gemini 9. Written in a folksy and matter-of-fact style, it gives the reader a feel for the enormity of these incredible accomplishments.
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Summary: Good overall, but several flaws too
Review: Michael Collins' "Carrying the Fire" is still thebest astronaut book I've read. However, I did enjoy this. The goodpoints are: 1. Much of the material is new. For example, His coverage of his Gemini mission is particularly interesting. 2. He is candid. Issues such as crew selection and skill are discussed openly. 3. Overall, the story moves quickly. The bad points: 1. Oddly, the section on his moon flight is among the shortest. 2. I think his ego gets in the way sometimes. 3. He spends time talking about celebrity friends and parties etc, which I had no interest in. 4. They needed a proof-reader. There are many grammar errors. I was annoyed by his overuse, mixing, and repetition of hyperboles and metaphors.
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Summary: Very disapointing by a legend in his own mind!
Review: Cernan reveals (although unintentionally) a badly flawed astronaut selection system. How else to explain the number of astronauts that were either so poorly skilled as pilots, or lacking in judgement, as to kill themselves with regularity, both in training jets and fast cars. Further, a large number were so morally deficient that their womanizing was common knowledge. The biggest mystery is how Cernan was ever selected for the program. He was an undistinguished graduate; reserve officer; and had neither combat nor test pilot experience. His astronaut career was filled with blunders, including a poorly executed space walk, crashing a helicopter while fooling around, breaking the fender of the lunar rover, and being so enamored with being on the moon, that he interfered with the geological experiments. Cernan, he likes to be called Gino, felt compelled to "trash" most of the true space heroes including Alan Sheppard, Buzz Aldrin, and to a lesser extent, Neil Armstrong and Gus Grissom, the names that most readily come to mind when thinking of the moon. Cernan was clearly more interested in the glory of being an astronaut, than in actually being one, at least based on this book, which devotes more pages to his friendship with Agnew, Sinatra, and numerous trips to celebrity parties and golf tournaments, than to his space exploits. This, of course, led to his divorce; so much of his free time spent partying rather than raising his family. If you must buy this book, then this readers guide is essential. Read the first chapter, skip the next 50 pages and then go into serious speed reading mode. Skim through all parts relating to parties, celebrity friends, and his advanced promotions. Just stick with the space part. This will reduce the book to around 100 pages, but those 100 pages are pretty interesting. One thing is for sure, you will never view the astronauts as heroes again.
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Summary: Welcome Addition
Review: Gene Cernan's autobiography is a welcome and useful addition to the shelf of important books detailing the Gemini and Apollo missions. I still think that Mike Collins' Carrying the Fire is the best of the books done by the astronauts who flew in the 1960s, but Cernan's goes over new ground, particularly concerning his Gemini EVA, the effect of his immersion in the space program on his marriage, and the politics of crew selection. Being a student of Apollo 17, I was particularly interested in the changes in his attitudes toward Harrison Schmitt over the years, going from outright hostility toward any scientist who might deprive an aviator of a seat on an Apollo mission toward, in the end, a recognition that it was the blending of Cernan's operational skills and Schmitt's field geology skills that made Apollo 17 so marvelously productive. I do wish Cernan had dug a bit more deeply into the team building that must have gone on during training and into the ways that their skills meshed during the mission. We will have to wait for Schmitt's long-overdue contribution.
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Summary: Terrific Book
Review: If you have an interest in the space program this is the book for you. Not only does Capt. Cernan take you through one exciting adventure after another he also gives you unique insights into what was going on behind the scenes and what he was thinking as these historic events (which he was often involved in) took place. A fantastic reminder of what it was like when nations were in the midst of a white hot cold war. Gene also gives us a view into the personal rewards and the personal price paid to be a true American Hero. You will have trouble putting it down. The terror of the space walk will give you cold chills. Enjoy!
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Summary: Last Thing I Expected From The Last Man On The Moon
Review: I bought this book after viewing the segment in HBO's series regarding the U.S's race to the moon featuring Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt. Their segment regarding the final voyage to the moon was lively and enlightening. I thought the book would feature that mission. WRONG. The book had its interesting insights, but was far less riveting than Michael Collins' or Jim Lovell's books on similar subject matter. Cernan focuses far too much on himself (from birth through present day) and takes some potshots at colleagues that seem less illustrative than they are mean-spirited and self-serving. The mission of Apollo 17 is almost an afterthought in this book. How disappointing; if the book had probed the fascinatingly successful mission in-depth and brought the differences between Cernan, the astronaut and Schmitt, the scientist, to light in as positive and engaging a manner as was demonstrated in the HBO special, this could have been a winner. It's not even close. Don't bother with this one.
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Summary: Australian moonshine on the last man!
Review: I loved the book! I have had it for ten months and must have read it five times. I was just a young Australian schoolboy when Geno went around the moon with Apollo 10 and yet I remember that flight, and especially the one that followed, as if it was yesterday. Like others, I love the book's personal touch. Gone is the techno fuzz typical of so many books on the space age. Geno tells it like it was: pride, glory, pain, sadness, fun, love, tragedy. The only disappointment - and a small one - is that I wanted to know more. More about him, more about his family, more about 1972-1998, a period that passes in the book like a stolen second. Americans should feel proud of what Geno and his colleagues did. The moon landing (along with the U.S.'s involvement in World War II) was perhaps America's greatest hour. Geno I hope you read this, I hope life gives us an opportunity to meet Down-under sometime. Who needs Buzz Lightyear for a hero. I had Gene Cernan.
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