Rating: 
Summary: Six star entertainment
Review: Tom Wolfe gives a brilliantly entertaining and inspirational book about one of the most colorful chapters in recent American history -- from the first supersonic piloted flight up to the early Sixties, when astronauts completed the beginning of America's space program. Wolfe writes about "the right stuff--" a blend of correct judgment, coolness, and the ability to get the job done, no matter what the danger. Wolfe rarely depends on technical stuff, so the book will appeal to those who know or care little about aviation or space, and there's little to deter the squeamish, ither. The author shows the period's bright side (the accomplishments in spite of the danger, the dopamine-flowing release after a job well-done, the intense exhilaration of it all) , and the dark side (the fears of the families, the tragic deaths from minor lapses in luck or judgment, the tedious egomania of many involved in the programs).
This book epitomizes the bright and dark side of Wolfe's school of writing, too. Above all, Wolfe can be as riveting and as entertaining as you'll find -- "truth can be funnier than fiction." I have heard how Wolfe caught the essence of what someone wanted to say even better than the one who said it, and he sure puts you into the thick of the action. The author gives a legitimate and interesting perspective. Nevertheless, this style plays heavily on your emotions, with all the problems that can involve, and the book is not terribly objective -- a purely entertaining incident can assume more importance than it should. Since Wolfe's storytelling style can blur the distinction between fact and conjecture, it "stretches the envelope" of truthtelling, so if another storyteller doesn't have basic integrity (and many authors and journalists regrettably do not), this style of writing can be misleading or deceptive. Character development and depth are questionable; those who have "the right stuff" in the face of danger are portrayed as almost superhuman, and those who don't are made into buffoons (no matter how significant their contributions to the mission). This "tyranny of the cool" can get a bit annoying after a while.
In short, I think Wolfe's book gives a grand idea of the spirit of the times, and of life's entertainment value, but it is rightly considered a novel rather than history. I easily gave it five stars because it is SUCH an inspirational and delightful read, but I would approach it with a bit of light-hearted skepticism.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie, Even Better Book
Review: "The Right Stuff" by Thomas Wolfe details the manned space race between Russia and the United States. It focuses on the United States' effort to put a man into space. The story of the first seven American astronauts is told, along with a description of test pilots, scientists, and others involved with spaceflight during this time. It is an excellent read, with just the right amount of storytelling, personalization, and technical details. The people are exposed as real people, not put on a pedestal, the way many books tend to treat historic figures. The movie version is good, the book is even better. Read this book whether you're a techie or just interested in this stage of American history.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe's prose push the envelope
Review: This non-fiction tells more than the story of America's race for space - but actually tells a deeper story: of America's push into the next frontier and how it discarded the heroes and heroism that led the way. Beginning with the early years of the jet age - when jets were prone to disintegrate at transonic speeds if they didn't just fail, Wolfe charts the conquest of the sonic barrier by Chuck Yeager. When the Russians jump the gun and pioneer the artificial satellite (and the nuclear-capable ICBM that lofted it into orbit) the US responds with its own programs - which fail miserably. The triumph of Gagarin's and Leonov's space flights spur the Americans to use unproven and flimsy hardware, and respond with apparently less success. (Unlike the first Soviet space flights which achieved orbit, the first American astronauts flew short suborbital missions; though superior technology allowed the west to loft satellites comparable to Sputnik but much smaller, conventional wisdom held the grapefruit-sized satellites as inferior). Though military test pilots had been flying (and dying) in virtual anonymity for years, those chosen to fly the American rockets become national heroes before the first launch. Wolfe parallels the civilian Mercury program that lofted the first Astronauts with the exotic but military X-15 program (which did not reach as high or as fast, but was at least flown by a pilot like an airplane) as if paralleling a more promising program with one that people were more interested in. The distinction is between the heroism that the Mercury astronauts stood for, and the heroism X-15 pilots (who snapped up no book deals) actually embodied. "The Right Stuff" is a triumph. Though it doesn't tell the whole story of the space program, Wolfe sets up an ingenious theme. The pilots and astronauts of the day were heroes, like knights of the round table, and the cold war was there crusade. While this sense of the epic was an outgrowth of the end of WWII, the burgeoning missile and nuclear technologies meant it would soon become impossible to see the world in simplistic terms. Though technology improved, those who developed or relied on it matured as well, shedding their addiction to the epic - John Glenn (whom Wolfe paints as a sincere hero) clashes with NASA bigwigs and never flies again (until the late 1990's), while Chuck Yeager assumes command of test pilot school, only to confront Kennedy-era political correctness. The book ends on a bittersweet note - with Mercury giving way to Gemini, and the end of the X-15. Wolfe describes these events and others as hallmarks of the cold-war's end. No longer would American's fly in space solo like warriors of old, while the demise of the X-15 eliminated American warriors from spaceflight entirely. Paralleling this were the Cuban missile crisis and the DC-Kremlin hotline. There would still be a cold war but, divorced from its epic delusions, we would learn how to end it...eventually. So profound was this change in mentality that, JFK's assassination at the crosshairs of a pro-Castro militant did not raise red-scare hsyteria. "The Right Stuff" also triumphs because of its unique perspective of the time which seems to parrot the hysteria of the day without actually condescending to it. Through the book we see the world marvel at the illusion of Russian ingenuity ("imagine, they kept a man alive up there a whole day!") while remaining fatalistic about American blunders ("our boys always screw up!" "Our rockets always explode!!") Wolfe inspired a new school of journalism and history, but none have come close to matching this feat.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: At first, this book looked ok. When I started to read it I really got an interest in the Space Race Era. This is a great book for any person who has a slight bit of interest in Space.
Rating: 
Summary: The Wrong Stuff
Review: I thought I would read this book after seeing a long reference to it in "Adventures in the Screenwriting Trade" by William Goldman. Goldman describes writing a screenplay of this book which was never used because of factors beyond his control. Goldman, who wrote Marathon Man and The Princess Bride, gives a synopsis of The Right Stuff that made me interested in reading the novel. I had to put the book down after the first chapter. Wolfe's flippant style is grating. After each fatal crash he mockingly repeats his description of the trainees ritualistic behavoir in donning their bridge coats (their formal uniform) to attend the funeral. The writer relates how worried the young pilots wives are, how they live in fear that their men are going to crash and burn. This is an unusual viewpoint to take in writing about heroic figures. It's as if someone sat down to write a book about Caesar or William the Conqueror written from the perspective of their worried wives...
Rating:
Summary: Let's get spaced!
Review: Who is the true hero of the American space-race? Is it an astronaut that started in the space program? Or perhaps a man that we think of as 'a boy behind the rudder of America's self-esteem?' If you think you know, then you might be surprised by this book. The story is that of the development of the space program that eventually becomes NASA. It is told in such a unique style and quasi hum-haw way that it keeps the reader gripping the pages and saying, "Holy Mackin-oly son. This is tense!" But I bet if an english teacher ever picked up this book they'd cringe (i.e. 'and the pilots soared and came back down to earth in a charred ball and the rest of the pilots brought out their blue dress suits and went to the funeral and sighed.) But hey! This is entertainment...mixed with a some serious history. So the level of enjoyment for the reader is up there. I read the book in three days and laughed, cried or did both multiple times. I think what made the book interesting was the fact that it was basically told from the perspective of one of the astronaut's wives. Basically, but no wholely. And who do you think the true hero is in this story? Alan Shepard? Neil Armstrong? Buzz Aldrin? How about another astronaut? Or could it possibly be a man who's never been in space but has directed some of the best pilots in the world and has done incredible feats with those sound busting rockets strapped to his behind. Could it be, Chuck Yeager? Naw! It couldn't be, could it? Read the book!
Rating:
Summary: God! this is a good one!
Review: I have not much to add to the other reviews, just wanting to support with five stars.
This book is about pilots, herostuff, the dawning of the space age and is very well researched: if you want to know about fighter pilots lives, their training, the first space modules etc, this is one to buy. And above all, it has an amazingly smart style, combining humor, facts, drama and tragedy to one big true! comedy about...the right stuff. You will laugh and learn at the same time!
One of the best books I have read so far.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe's witty look at test pilots and astronauts
Review: This is a witty, fun read about the early space program, the Mercury 7 astronauts, and Chuck Yeager. Even if you are not a fan of Tom Wolfe's fiction, you will appreciate how he brings just the right mix of sarcasm and awe to his subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: Yeager Meister
Review: Chuck Yeager never did a moon shot, never sat in a rocket ship nor made a spacewalk. But for Wolfe, Yeager, who in 1947 became the first man to break the sound barrier, is the original astronaut. He and his fellow high-altitude rocket pilots were officially recognized as such some years later. Some even say that their work made more of a contribution to the current Space Shuttle than the Apollo program. Among the cast of characters who have "the right stuff," which includes "Mercury 7" legends such as Glenn, Shepard and Grissom, Yeager is primus inter pares. Wolfe also spares a thought for the unfortunate simians which preceded man's leap into The New Frontier; unlike Shepard and Gagarin, there was no ticker-tape parade for The First Chimp In Space.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Righteous Stuff
Review: One only has to read a statement (on p. 346 of the hardcover edition) describing New York as "a foreign city full of a strange race of curiously tiny malformed gray people"* to realize The Right Stuff is not exactly a pinnacle of Objective Journalism (whatever the heck that is). And that's fine - part of the accomplishment of Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and inheritors like Lester Bangs and Nick Tosches was to give the lie to the notion of journalistic objectivity. Just know that you're looking for a straight-foward presentation of facts, figures, and information about Project Mercury and its astronauts, you're probably gonna want to start somewhere else. The upside of Wolfe's New Journalistic approach is that book is a tremendous amount of fun, recounting the stories of the Mercury astronauts with a wry, ironic wit that's all his own. There are, however, a few stylistic problems here - Wolfe's tone doesn't always suit the material at hand, particularly in the first chapter, which deals with the tragic deaths of many of the early test pilots of experimental jet planes. Also, he has a fondness for exclamatory interjections (e.g., on the very first page we get , "But the day was young! And what a setting she had for her imminent enlightenment! And what a picture she herself presented!" - all in a row, just like that) that can grow tiresome after a while. For the most part, though, the writing works - Wolfe pulls off the admirable feat of making fun of pulp writing styles and reveling in them, often simultaneously. Also, there are some long paragraphs in here (particularly the one towards the end of the book where he describes Chuck Yeager's final test flight) that are minor miracles of literary construction. All in all, definitely worth reading if you're interested in the subject at hand, or in exploring a unique literary voice. *Not to worry, New Yorkers - Wolfe makes fun of Texans, Russians, and just about everybody else here, too.
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