From “America’s nerviest journalist” (Newsweek)–a breath-taking epic, a magnificent adventure story, and an investigation into the true heroism and courage of the first Americans to conquer space. “Tom Wolfe at his very best” (The New York Times Book Review) Millions of words have poured forth about man’s trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of … of the most engrossing side of the adventure; namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves – in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers, that made The Right Stuff a classic.
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One of the great American books, the Right Stuff captures the spirit of the Space Race and the Mercury Program.and more broadly a fabulous snapshot into mid 20th century America, and the macho psyche that dominated that era.
This book launched my love of reading.
When Wolfe was still writing non-fiction, this remarkable description of the early astronauts is a fascinating read about all of the difficulties of life for these fighter-jocks turned space travelers. They had to deal with Administrative bureaucracy, the media, intense competition and the trauma of an extremely dangerous occupation. It is a fascinating and interesting read.
I have always been a fan of the space program. I saw the movie years ago as a kid. The book is so much better.
I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career to meet a handful of the characters that inspired this writing. I heartily recommend this timeless classic to anyone interested in the high flying world of astronauts, test pilots and the character traits that drive them.
I had high hopes for “The Right Stuff” both because it is a highly regarded book by critics and because it was my first Tom Wolfe book. Unfortunately I wasn’t impressed and I walk away feeling Tom Wolfe is not a write for me.
The book is a thoroughly detailed account of the “Mercury Project” which was a precursor to the “Apollo Project” and which was created as part of the Cold War in an effort to win control of space before the Russians did. My problem with the book is that it lacks heart. The description of the main characters never grabbed me and made them all seem programmed automatons.
Perhaps part of the problem is that the book tries to go too wide and would have vastly improved had it focused on one theme or a couple of characters. Or maybe because the origina of the book was a series of articles Wolfe wrote for Rolling Stone magazine, they work better as a serialized narrative than made to fit into a book.
I guess there is an audience for this type of book but I’m clearly not it. If you only read one book about the “Mercury Project,” my vote would go to “This New Ocean” a much more complete and detailed exploration.
I didn’t see the movie until many years after it came out. When I did, the intentional mythologizing of history really grabbed me. I just had to read the book.
The book didn’t disappoint. Wolfe’s account of the early Space Race was both fascinating and hilarious.I’ve never forgotten his colorful expose` on the collective subconscious of the testpilots/astronauts, in particular. Like the ziggarat metaphor used to describe the egocentric construct of the unspoken hierarchy according to how much of the Right Stuff each individual thought he and his peers possessed. In fact, I was obsessed with Wolfe’s depiction for a while. I was rubbing elbows with military pilots at the time, and considering becoming one myself, and could see the truth in it: huge egos and equally enormous wristwatches.
I at least had the ego.
Anyway, the psychological insights are only dressing for the thorough investigative reporting Wolfe wove into an informative and entertaining inside story of an elite subculture in history.
For those who haven’t both read the book and seen the film, I encourage you to correct that. It’s not a case of one being better than the other; instead they compliment each other.