Rocketman: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond: Amazon.co.uk: Buzz Aldrin, Nancy Conrad, Howard A. Klausner: Books

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
It wasn't a very lucrative job, sweeping up the hangar, mowing the lawn, fueling up and washing down single-engine airplanes at Paoli Airfield just off the Main Line in Philadelphia. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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8 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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3.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Guy, Astounding Acheivements, Average Biography, 5 Jun 2006

By	Tim Bentley (Shetland, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

There's much that other reviewers have already said concerning accuracy and consistency, and of course the style of writing interlacing Pete's round the world record attempt in a Lear Jet with episodes from his past. I have to say I agree, the style doesn't really work for me (that doesn't mean to say that you might not like it), and the detail particularly when depicting Pete's space flights (the thing he was *most* famous for) was weak.

That having been said, the innate likability of the man shines through the text. He was clearly not overly impressed with himself and understood his limitations and his humanity. Most of all his self-deprecating humour caught my imagination - a case in point is the plate showing a photo of his self-portrait in the sand. I wasn't previously aware of his personal struggle with dyslexia, which makes his acheivements in the cockpit all the greater and his appointment as an astronaut amazing. I had heard the story of the Mercury selection and Pete's description of the blank rorshach card from another Astronauts biography, however, it was listed as 'rumour'. I wonder if it is fact or posthumous hearsay.

Pete's life was hard, but only in comparison to his origins, many people start in abject poverty and have to struggle, although I do appreciate that his family's fall from wealth galvanised the man into refusing to quit at anything (Mercury selection and the dreaded electronic probe notwithstanding - hey even Braveheart would have said "to hell with this!"). I felt that some parts of the book were necessarily understated, particularly in dealing with the death of his son - it was an almost Forrest Gump moment, "That's all I have to say about that".

The relationship between Pete, Dicky-Dicky and Beano (the crew of Apollo 12) was for me one of the most interesting parts of the book, as is the way that the first, second and third intake of astronauts all seemed to know each other - notably Wally Schirra and Jim Lovell. Yes there is humour and the tendency to play around, but how much more can be acheived by a crew of really good friends? The skylab section was reasonable, but space geek that I am, I'd have liked to see more detail on the effects of long duration space flight - especially from one who was written off as "unsuitable for long-duration space flight" by the flight surgeons undertaking the Mercury Selection process.

Buzz Aldrin's foreward is worth a mention, as he appears to be someone who genuinely liked and respected Pete, and on my next visit to the States I'll certainly watch for the coloured lights in Pete's tree.

On the whole, I am not sorry I bought this book. While it is shaky in literary terms and not entirely accurate I enjoyed the anecdotes from Pete's life, especially the last meal and the autograph for the little girl signed "Your Pal, the Rocketman". The episode just seemed for me to epitomise Pete, the pilot, the astronaut, the joker and all round good guy.

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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great account of a true hero of the 20th Century., 16 Jul 2005

By	William Gell "gorbag" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I`ve read all of the biogs of the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury astronauts and this has to be the best written and most enjoyable account. Probably because it is about the most enjoyable astronaut! The late great Pete Conrad. Even if you aren`t that up on this topic it is still a fascinating read just for his life story and insights into his dynamic character. While other names such as Neil Armstrong took a lot of the glory Conrad (The third man on the moon) was one of the most successful astronauts of them all. Rejected by the selection process for the Mercury Program he went on to fly both Gemini and Apollo missions and was very instrumental in Skylab.
A great account of a great character.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Would You Most Like To Have Met?, 8 Jul 2006

By	Mr. G. Dobson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having read about the Apollo 12 relationships elsewhere (Chalkin, Moondust, and especially Al Bean's book[Buy All Three])I dived into this book hoping to hear more of the most likeable man in the most likeable trio in the whole Space Program(me). Sadly the book is written in a very gung-ho manner which distracts from much of the achievements of Pete Conrad.

Pete should have been first on the moon. If the names and number had been shuffled slightly differently between Apollos 8 and 9 we would have had the First Man On The Moon NASA needed. That's not to detract from Mr Armstrong but it seems Pete Conrad proved you could be the best of the best and still be an apporachable, likeable guy. Much of that still comes through in this book and for that reason I'll still give it 5 stars. It's just a shame the biographer that was used didn't know how to convey that sense of Right Stuff combined with Nice Guy without going all Hunter S-esque.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars With such a great character this should have been a great story
I really wanted this to be a good book; but I was disappointed. Like a couple of the other reviews of this book, I found the narrative style the author uses awkward and... Read more

Published on 1 Jul 2007 by Peter Turner

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing
Pete Conrad's life as the most colourful astronaut of the Gemini/Apollo/Skylab era provides enough material alone for a marvellous book, (the only one who lived up to the... Read more

Published on 3 Jun 2006 by a reader from Dorset

4.0 out of 5 stars The joker in the pack
Ignore the hard-nut, moody cover shot - Pete Conrad was the joker in the pack of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. He probably burst out laughing after the camera clicked. Read more

Published on 26 Feb 2006

2.0 out of 5 stars A huge disappointment
I have read volumes on the NASA astronaouts and the Soviet cosmonauts and it was with great excitement and anticipation that I ordered this book. Read more

Published on 23 Jan 2006 by Mr. K. Papas

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, Inaccurate, Poorly Written
Conrad was one of the most likable of all the 12 Moonwalkers-humorous, self-deprecating and happy to poke fun at those who took themselves too seriously. Read more

Published on 13 Nov 2005 by Dr. A. Sahal

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Rocketman: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond (Hardcover)

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