Synopses & Reviews
From "Americas 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)
Tom Wolfe is the author of a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and I Am Charlotte Simmons. He lives in New York City. Tom Wolfe began The Right Stuff at a time when it was unfashionable to contemplate American heroism. Nixon had left the White House in disgrace, the nation was reeling from the catastrophe of Vietnam, and in 1979the year the book was first publishedAmericans were being held hostage by Iranian militants. Yet it was exactly the anachronistic courage of his subjects that captivated Wolfe. In his foreword, he notes that as late as 1970, almost one in four career Navy pilots died in accidents. "The Right Stuff," he explains, "became a story of why men were willingwilling?delighted!to take on such odds in this, an era literary people had long since characterized as the age of the anti-hero."
Wolfe's roots in New Journalism were intertwined with the nonfiction novel that Truman Capote had pioneered with In Cold Blood. As Capote did, Wolfe tells his story from a limited omniscient perspective, dropping into the lives of his "characters" as each in turn becomes a major player in the space program. After an opening chapter on the terror of being a test pilot's wife, the story cuts back to the late 1940s, when Americans were first attempting to break the sound barrier. Test pilots, we discover, are people who live fast lives with dangerous machines, not all of them airborne. Chuck Yeager was certainly among the fastest, and his determination to push through Mach 1a feat that some had predicted would cause the destruction of any aircraftmakes him the book's guiding spirit.
The focus shifts to the seven astronauts. Wolfe traces Alan Shepard's sub-orbital flight and Gus Grissom's embarrassing panic on the high seas (making the controversial claim that Grissom flooded his Liberty capsule by blowing the escape hatch too soon). The author also produces an admiring portrait of John Glenn's apple-pie heroism and selfless dedication and concludes with a return to Yeager and his late-career exploits. The Right Stuff is the funniest, the most literary, and the most vivid book ever written about America's manned space program.
"Absolutely first class . . . Improbable as some of Wolfe's tales seem, I know he's telling it like it was."The Washington Post
"Splendid . . . It shows our propensity to manufacture heroes, and, just as quickly, to forget them; it shows how a scientific program was exploited for political advantage; it provides a revealing character study of seven exceptional Americans."The Saturday Review
"Technically accurate, learned, cheeky, risky, touching, tough, compassionate, nostalgic, worshipful, jingoistic . . . The Right Stuff is superb."The New York Times Book Review
"One of the most romantic and thrilling books ever written about men who put themselves in peril."The Boston Globe
"Crammed with inside poop and racy incident . . . fast cars, booze, astro groupies, the envies and injuries of the military caste system . . . Wolfe lays it all out in brilliantly staged Op Lit scenes."Time
"An exhilarating flight into fear, love, beauty, and fiery death."People
Review
"Technically accurate, learned, cheeky, risky, touching, tough, compassionate, nostalgic, worshipful, jingoistic . . . The Right Stuff is superb."--The New York Times Book Review
"One of the most romantic and thrilling books ever written about men who put themselves in peril."--The Boston Globe
"An exhilarating flight into fear, love, beauty, and fiery death . . . Magnificent."--People
"Absolutely first class . . . Improbable as some of Wolfe's tales seem, I know he's telling it like it was."--The Washington Post Book World
"Crammed with inside poop and racy incident . . . fast cars, booze, astro groupies, the envies and injuries of the military caste system . . . Wolfe lays it all out in brilliantly staged Op Lit scenes."--Time
"Splendid . . . It shows our propensity to manufacture heroes, and, just as quickly, to forget them; it shows how a scientific program was exploited for political advantage; it provides a revealing character study of seven exceptional Americans."--The Saturday Review
Synopsis
First published in 1979 to extraordinary acclaim, Tom Wolfe’ s landmark work became an instant bestseller, going on to sell more than 2.5 million copies. It is a true story that is as exciting as the best fiction— the tale of American heroes Yeager, Conrad, Grissom, and Glenn— men who were willing to put their lives on the line in pursuit of the final frontier.
With stunning accuracy and captivating prose, Wolfe recounts the details of the lives of these men, their families, and of NASA’ s Project Mercury program. The result is a vivid history that could only be enhanced by actual historic photographs.
The Right Stuff Illustrated includes hundreds of photographs and reproductions of documents and memorabilia pertaining to the Project Mercury program, the current events surrounding the program, and the political climate that led up to the missions in the early 1960’ s. It’ s the perfect gift book for lovers of history and the space program, as well as the millions of fans of The Right Stuff.
Synopsis
Tom Wolfe at his very best (The New York Times Book Review), The Right Stuff is the basis for the 1983 Oscar Award-winning film of the same name and the 8-part Disney+ TV mini-series.
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.
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 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.
Synopsis
The first Americans in space--Yeager, Conrad, Grissom, and Glenn--battle the Russians for control of the heavens and put their lives on the line to demonstrate a quality beyond courage, in this classic by Wolfe.
Synopsis
From "Americas 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)
Synopsis
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)
About the Author
Tom Wolfe is the author of a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and
I Am Charlotte Simmons. He lives in New York City.