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Amazon.co.uk Review
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 1979--the year the book appeared--Americans 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 willing--willing?--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.
Wolfe traces Alan Shepard's suborbital 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. By the time Wolfe concludes with a return to Yeager and his late-career exploits, the narrative's epic proportions and literary merits are secure. Certainly The Right Stuff is the best, the funniest, and the most vivid book ever written about America's manned space program. --Patrick O'Kelley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"An exhilarating flight into fear, love, beauty and fiery death ... magnificent."
-- "People
"It is Tom Wolfe at his very best ... technically accurate, learned, cheeky, risky, touching, tough, compassionate, nostalgic, worshipful, jingoistic -- The Right Stuff is superb."
-- "The New York Times Book Review
"Breathtaking ... epic ... There are images and ideas in The Right Stuff that glisten like a rocket screaming to the heavens."
-- "Los Angeles Times
"Romantic and thrilling ... One of the most romantic and thrilling books ever written about men who put themselves in peril."
-- "The Boston Globe
"It's magic ... the best book I have read in the last ten years."
-- "Chicago Tribune
Also by Tom Wolfe:
The Bonfire of the Vanities
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
From Bauhaus to Our House
The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby
The Painted Word
The Right Stuff
Mauve Gloves & Madmen
Clutter & Vine
In Our Time
The Pumphouse Gang
Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers
Available wherever Bantam Books are sold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
-- "People
"It is Tom Wolfe at his very best ... technically accurate, learned, cheeky, risky, touching, tough, compassionate, nostalgic, worshipful, jingoistic -- The Right Stuff is superb."
-- "The New York Times Book Review
"Breathtaking ... epic ... There are images and ideas in The Right Stuff that glisten like a rocket screaming to the heavens."
-- "Los Angeles Times
"Romantic and thrilling ... One of the most romantic and thrilling books ever written about men who put themselves in peril."
-- "The Boston Globe
"It's magic ... the best book I have read in the last ten years."
-- "Chicago Tribune
Also by Tom Wolfe:
The Bonfire of the Vanities
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
From Bauhaus to Our House
The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby
The Painted Word
The Right Stuff
Mauve Gloves & Madmen
Clutter & Vine
In Our Time
The Pumphouse Gang
Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers
Available wherever Bantam Books are sold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Tom Wolfe is an outstanding writer, and this book shows him at his best. Wolfe recounts the careers of the first US astronauts, from their early hell-raising lives as test pilots to the first space flights and beyond, in exquisite, entertaining prose. His descriptions, whether of a crashed pilot "burned beyond recognition", or the minute-by-minute experience of the first astronauts in the Mercury programme, are mesmerising. Perhaps his greatest achievement is to describe the astronauts (eg the Peugeot-driving John Glenn) both as heroic, larger-than-life figures and as real, believable human beings.
Summary: an extraordinary book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You carry your expectations to a book, and this one was a disappointment to me. This book, in my view, offers a sophisticated version of hero worship. But, while showing many of the foibles of the characters, it is worshipful and indeed, facile myth generation. You get a bunch of you-are-there style descriptions - the kind of light stream-of-consciousness that made Wolfe famous as a hip young beat journalist - and they are fine as far as they go, but at least for me, I felt there is far too little substance behind it.
In spite of Wolfe's somewhat cynical veneer, the characters fall into some pretty simplistic stereotypes. You get the tough, natural aristocrat, Chuck Yeager, the real yet unknown superstar, and then you get the media-sensation astronauts, who are promoted for political propaganda reasons. Thus, there is John Glenn ("the clean marine") and a host of other less colorful characters. I did not feel I got to know much about them. Glenn, whom I worked for in the Senate 20 years ago, comes off as the most boring of straight men, which I don't think encompasses him well at all.
Then there is the period of history in which it all takes place, the Cold War. Wolfe offers nothing much of interest about this frightening period of technological competition between the US and USSR. I felt it was just kind of a useful background for Wolfe. This stands in stark contrast to Wolfe's wonderful Electric Coolaid Acid Test, which really plumbed a lot of the 1960s psychedelic spirit - that was why I expected so much more, I suppose.
I would recommend this as a fun read, but not much beyond that. It is strictly throwaway and does not demand much concentration or stimulate the reader to dig deeper elsewhere, which for me signals a failed reading experience.
In spite of Wolfe's somewhat cynical veneer, the characters fall into some pretty simplistic stereotypes. You get the tough, natural aristocrat, Chuck Yeager, the real yet unknown superstar, and then you get the media-sensation astronauts, who are promoted for political propaganda reasons. Thus, there is John Glenn ("the clean marine") and a host of other less colorful characters. I did not feel I got to know much about them. Glenn, whom I worked for in the Senate 20 years ago, comes off as the most boring of straight men, which I don't think encompasses him well at all.
Then there is the period of history in which it all takes place, the Cold War. Wolfe offers nothing much of interest about this frightening period of technological competition between the US and USSR. I felt it was just kind of a useful background for Wolfe. This stands in stark contrast to Wolfe's wonderful Electric Coolaid Acid Test, which really plumbed a lot of the 1960s psychedelic spirit - that was why I expected so much more, I suppose.
I would recommend this as a fun read, but not much beyond that. It is strictly throwaway and does not demand much concentration or stimulate the reader to dig deeper elsewhere, which for me signals a failed reading experience.
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I was at university (a couple of years ago) I had a few 'truths' drummed into me. All in a subtle, needling were-not-telling-you-what-to-think-but-this-is-what-you-have-to-think type of way. First, genius doesn't exist. Second, there are no absolute 'truths' (hence the stupid speechmarks that crop up around every other word these days). Third, the Hero was dead.
I was taught that the Hero (as a concept/character type/role model) didn't apply to us these days. It was a macho construction, or something.
The Right Stuff brought back the notion of heroism - that fantastic, boy's own, Indiana Jones, Spiderman, stick the poster on your wall type of heroism that takes you back to your childhood.
And why not? Chuck Yeager, Alan Shepheard, John Glenn. The things these men went through to break the sound-barrier, to get man into space were astounding. They risked their lives every time they got into their aircraft, yet they were cool as snowmen.
Tom Wolfe brings the danger, the adrenaline, the burnt-to-a -cinder plane crashes to life in wonderfully sympathetic, excited, yet brilliantly crafted style.
This is the best of Tom Wolfe's books. Partly, I think, because he actually respected/admired his subject this time around.
I absolutely loved this book. It was so nice to read a romantic book about recent history, rather than the cynical political stuff you get spoonfed at University.
I was taught that the Hero (as a concept/character type/role model) didn't apply to us these days. It was a macho construction, or something.
The Right Stuff brought back the notion of heroism - that fantastic, boy's own, Indiana Jones, Spiderman, stick the poster on your wall type of heroism that takes you back to your childhood.
And why not? Chuck Yeager, Alan Shepheard, John Glenn. The things these men went through to break the sound-barrier, to get man into space were astounding. They risked their lives every time they got into their aircraft, yet they were cool as snowmen.
Tom Wolfe brings the danger, the adrenaline, the burnt-to-a -cinder plane crashes to life in wonderfully sympathetic, excited, yet brilliantly crafted style.
This is the best of Tom Wolfe's books. Partly, I think, because he actually respected/admired his subject this time around.
I absolutely loved this book. It was so nice to read a romantic book about recent history, rather than the cynical political stuff you get spoonfed at University.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
where's the wit?
Supposedly, this is America's premier satirist penning one of his most celebrated books. But this book's as tame as a space dog on sedatives. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ray Willmott
Sublime
A truly wonderful account of the early US space
adventure and the spirit of it's participants (&
some of those unfairly left behind). Read more
adventure and the spirit of it's participants (&
some of those unfairly left behind). Read more
Published 12 months ago by DrTris
The Right Stuff
'The Right Stuff' was written in 1979, and at that time, appears to have broken new ground by its modern style, and astute analysis of the USA's slow comeback from the Sputnik... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Christian Wendt
One of my all time favourites
The Right Stuff is one of my all time favourite books. In my opinion, you won't find a better written account of the space race. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Al Ussher
Sign of Forgotten Times
A vivid account of America and its glorious astronaut days - the age of innocence. America, a lively, confident, fresh and secure nation back then, did the impossible and got the... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Van
Rivetting
This account of a unique era of aviation history is rivetting reading. It gives a great insight into the psyche, behaviour and motivation of those few men, whose experiences would... Read more
Published 17 months ago by noprobs
Fabulous, fabulous book!
A gripping read - incredible to think it's all true!
An amazing era aeronautical development - I only wish I had been part of it!
An amazing era aeronautical development - I only wish I had been part of it!
Published 20 months ago by C .M. C. MCGURK
A bit too folksy for my taste.
Wolfe focuses on the culture and social mores that surrounded the Mercury space programme. He is excellent at developing the characters so that they come vividly to life. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Blencathra
Compulsory reading
Compulsory reading for anyone trying to get their head around the beginnings of manned space flight and the space race with the Russians, from the end of WW2 up to events leading... Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2010 by stuart828
A good read that puts the space race in context.
The film taht was based on this book is more expansive and really manages to capture thos early pioneering days of space flight and breaking the sound barrier. Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2010 by Mr. P. Young
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