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Summary: It's fun, it's a great read, but...
Review: Some pee in their space suits, others catch some zee's, a few might think about home and family. Such is the earthy fare of space heroes, suited up, strapped down, ready to be zootered into orbit. Such are the revelations in Tom Wolfe's classic best seller on the early years of the U.S. space program. We love the stories of Wolfe's titillating disrobing of Astronaut's egos, enemas, and Konakai cookies. There's also the mocking irreverence as technology goes bust. Remember the unmanned Redstone rocket fiasco at Cape Carnaveral in 1960. The great beast on the launch pad, embers stirring ..5..4..3..2..then..pop. In a little fizzle the escape tower launches leaving behind a rocket, the assembled dignitaries and other stunned guests. Most of whom look on bemused, confused, and silent as the one act play takes its course. Oh yes, and then there is all that fun with the "no see 'im bugs", Pete Conrad's jalapeno "gift", Chuck Yeager's drawl, Edwards, Panchos, and the Chief Designer, Builder of the Integral! Let's stay with the Builder of the Integral for a moment. Mr Wolfe writes that just as the Americans were about to seek some space triumph the Russian Chief Designer would spoil the show, putting satellites, dogs and men of the Red Sickle in space before the U.S. Does the Chief Designer's spirit live on? Can we question Mr Wolfe's treatment of his subject, spoiling the the "electrifying best seller"? Is Tom guilty of a few porkies here and there, a touch too much creativity...hmm? More informed readers are perhaps best placed to judge, but an example throws a questioning shadow. Tom makes much of the competitive instincts of the original seven Mercury astronauts with John Glenn, "the Deacon", the "apple-pie" hero, coming in for extra special treatment. Tom writes of Glenn's over-the-top performance at the 1959 Dolly Madison press conference that announced the Original Seven to the world. When they were asked how many of them expected to return safely to earth, Wolfe records that Glenn, "one couldn't help noticing", had both hands up in the air. The others, he suggested, could barely raise one. What perhaps has gone unnoticed is a photograph of the event (one appears in Time-Life's "Life in Space" book) that shows Wally Schirra, too, had both hands up! This is hardly an earth shattering revelation but suggests Mr Wolfe has a case to answer for over-exuberance. How many of Tom's other tales suffer the same fate? The book, we should not forget, is a great read. Just how many wrong stunts go into the "The Right Stuff" is something we should ponder.
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Summary: Zesty,evocative look at a brief moment in history.
Review: Highly recommended. This is the quintessential, non-technical history of the people behind America's early space days. It restores the Cold War atmosphere, the macho, and the simpler ideas of a past without patronising or demeaning its participants. The prose form is conversational, unsophisticated, but somehow just right for a story about fighter "jocks" and the way to the stars. There is more affection for the space programme in this book than in any dozen "offical history" type of books. Anyone who reads it and does not look up at least one book on rocket planes or space flight has to be very unimaginative.
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Summary: SOME STORIES MAY BE FABRICATED
Review: THE AUTHOR FELL TO VERIFY THAT GUS GRISSOM WAS RIGHT. THE NASA'S REPORT SAID THAT THE HATCH DETONATOR SOMETIME CAN BLOW OF BY ITSEFT. THAT'S WHY THEY ROMOVE THIS DEVICE FROM THE APOLLO 1's MODULE. THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY 3 LIFE WERE LOST IN THE FIRE. TOM WOLFE HAS LOST HIS CREDIBILITY BY CRITICIZING GRISSOM WITH HIS FABRICATED STORIES. THE OTHER STORIES MAY BE FUN, BUT HOW COULD WE TRUST HIM ?
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Summary: some books change your view of life
Review: I've always wanted to be an astronaut. Do I have the right stuff? undoubtedly not for the early programme. The fear, bravado, courage and arrogance of these young men makes me wish I'd known them. I know one thing...I want to live life by 'pushing the envelope'.
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Summary: even intresting for women!
Review: Most women don't read books on astronomy and airplanes. I didn't think that I would read about that subject either. Well this one -the right stuff- is even intresting if you don't like planes and all that kind of things. It's the stories of the astronauts and there families seen in the context of the history what makes this book a bestseller. I went to America and lucky enough I found al lot new books from Tom Wolfe. I read Bonfire of vanitys, Man in full and the painted word also and think Tom Wolfe is one of the best writers I know. Also recommendable is the book conversations with Tom Wolfe. It's a way to learn something more about the writer. The nicest thing on reading his books is that you also learn something about the subject.
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Summary: Good book, except for smearing Gus Grissom
Review: Very good book that takes you inside the minds of test pilots and astronauts. But Gus Grissom gets a raw deal being portrayed as a screw up. Gus was one of the most careful by the book do it right guys in the entire space program. In all later Mercury missions where the hatch was blown by the astronaut he received a bruse from the recoil of the mechanism. Gus didn't have a mark on him, he could not have paniced and blown the hatch. He did admit that his helmet could possibly have tripped the hatch blow actuator due to the wave action on the capsule. But Wolf did a great disservice by malighing a man who wasn't around to defend himself.
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Summary: Who cares if the facts are slightly altered?
Review: When reading The Right Stuff, the reader must realize that they are reading a novel, non-fiction. Therefore the author may take the liberty of fabricating slightly on the tale. If the reader realizes this it isn't a big deal. Also, I found his descriptions of the feelings of the chimps in the capsule to be quite entertaining. In response to an earlier review, the concentration on Pete Conrad is necessary to the reader in order for them to establish the mindset of the pilots and their wives. Danger wasn't a factor in their lives as shown evident by the Pax River problems. This is a very entertaining book and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the United States Space Program.
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Summary: Still the best book on the culture of the space race
Review: Wolfe was the first, and perhaps still the only writers to really put you inside the the head of the first astronauts- indeed, when portions of this book were published in Rolling Stone, a number of astronauts commented that he was the only journalist who really understood what it was all about. This is still the best book to read to try to understand what it was like to be there in the 60s during the space race.
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Summary: Great book that is obviously lots of fiction
Review: ...as is most good non-fiction. Wolfe obviously wasn't there, so get off his case for facts you don't think are right. The fact that Gus Grissom may or may not have been responsible for the Liberty Bell 7 sinking isn't the point; the fact is, those at NASA at the time, started treating him like it was his fault, and that's what mattered. I thought this was evident in Wolfe's writing and I knew nothing of the facts. I recommend this book especially to those who are interested in studying how to write "for an era" -- Wolfe does quite well here.
Rating:
Summary: Literary style annoying (to me), but ultimately effective
Review: After reading this book I found that I had learned what I wanted to learn: about the history and sociology of the early US manned space program. I am not a fan of Wolfe's off-hand, gee-whiz, overbearing style. However, I must admit that this style was very effectively applied in this work. I checked up on some facts with more pure historical sources, and found that Wolfe's presentation was accurate--though of course I checked only a tiny percentage of what's in the book. Many of the tales seem to me to be apocryphal or just historical fiction. But overall the book succeeds in putting the Mercury program in the context of the times (policically and sociologically) and rest of the test flight program. As such it is quite an achievement.
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