The Right Stuff
by: Tom Wolfe
List Price: $16.00
Prices subject to change.
Price: $10.88
You Save: $5.12 (32%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Amazon.com Review:
Tom Wolfe began The Right Stuff at a time when it was unfashionableto contemplate American heroism. Nixon had left the White House indisgrace, the nation was reeling from the catastrophe of Vietnam, and in1979--the year the book appeared--Americans were being held hostage byIranian militants. Yet it was exactly the anachronistic courage of hissubjects that captivated Wolfe. In his foreword, he notes that as late as1970, almost one in four career Navy pilots died in accidents. "TheRight Stuff," he explains, "became a story of why men werewilling--willing?--delighted!--to take on such odds in this, an eraliterary people had long since characterized as the age of the anti-hero."
Wolfe's roots in New Journalism were intertwined with the nonfiction novelthat Truman Capote had pioneered with In Cold Blood. As Capotedid, Wolfe tells his story from a limited omniscient perspective, droppinginto the lives of his "characters" as each in turn becomes a major playerin the space program. After an opening chapter on the terror of being atest pilot's wife, the story cuts back to the late 1940s, when Americanswere first attempting to break the sound barrier. Test pilots, we discover,are people who live fast lives with dangerous machines, not all of themairborne. Chuck Yeager was certainly among the fastest, and hisdetermination to push through Mach 1--a feat that some had predicted wouldcause the destruction of any aircraft--makes him the book's guidingspirit.
Yet soon the focus shifts to the seven initial astronauts. Wolfe tracesAlan Shepard's suborbital flight and Gus Grissom's embarrassing panic onthe high seas (making the controversial claim that Grissom flooded hisLiberty capsule by blowing the escape hatch too soon). The author alsoproduces an admiring portrait of John Glenn's apple-pie heroism andselfless dedication. By the time Wolfe concludes with a return to Yeagerand his late-career exploits, the narrative's epic proportions and literarymerits are secure. Certainly The Right Stuff is the best, thefunniest, and the most vivid book ever written about America's manned space program. --Patrick O'Kelley
Product Description:
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)
Tom Wolfe began The Right Stuff at a time when it was unfashionableto contemplate American heroism. Nixon had left the White House indisgrace, the nation was reeling from the catastrophe of Vietnam, and in1979--the year the book appeared--Americans were being held hostage byIranian militants. Yet it was exactly the anachronistic courage of hissubjects that captivated Wolfe. In his foreword, he notes that as late as1970, almost one in four career Navy pilots died in accidents. "TheRight Stuff," he explains, "became a story of why men werewilling--willing?--delighted!--to take on such odds in this, an eraliterary people had long since characterized as the age of the anti-hero."
Wolfe's roots in New Journalism were intertwined with the nonfiction novelthat Truman Capote had pioneered with In Cold Blood. As Capotedid, Wolfe tells his story from a limited omniscient perspective, droppinginto the lives of his "characters" as each in turn becomes a major playerin the space program. After an opening chapter on the terror of being atest pilot's wife, the story cuts back to the late 1940s, when Americanswere first attempting to break the sound barrier. Test pilots, we discover,are people who live fast lives with dangerous machines, not all of themairborne. Chuck Yeager was certainly among the fastest, and hisdetermination to push through Mach 1--a feat that some had predicted wouldcause the destruction of any aircraft--makes him the book's guidingspirit.
Yet soon the focus shifts to the seven initial astronauts. Wolfe tracesAlan Shepard's suborbital flight and Gus Grissom's embarrassing panic onthe high seas (making the controversial claim that Grissom flooded hisLiberty capsule by blowing the escape hatch too soon). The author alsoproduces an admiring portrait of John Glenn's apple-pie heroism andselfless dedication. By the time Wolfe concludes with a return to Yeagerand his late-career exploits, the narrative's epic proportions and literarymerits are secure. Certainly The Right Stuff is the best, thefunniest, and the most vivid book ever written about America's manned space program. --Patrick O'Kelley
Product Description:
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)
Alternate Versions:
Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category:
- Books » Specialty Stores » Custom Stores » New & Used Textbooks » Engineering » Aeronautical Engineering
- Books » Specialty Stores » Custom Stores » New & Used Textbooks » Engineering » General AAS
- Books » Specialty Stores » Custom Stores » New & Used Textbooks » Humanities » History » United States
- Books » Specialty Stores » Custom Stores » New & Used Textbooks » Humanities » History » General AAS
- Books » Specialty Stores » Custom Stores » New & Used Textbooks » General AAS
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- The REAL American Idols
I woke up this morning thinking about this book and the wonderful movie that followed. Being true to my instincts I will now read it again for the first time in 20 years. In a time when our heroes are overpaid athletes and overexposed celebrities (who cares about Brad and Angelina ?) it is high time we got our priorities straight and remember who our "idols" really are! Many of them are right here in this book.
Rating: - better than I expected
From the sound of it, a book about astronauts sounds like it would be interesting. But if you really think about it, do you really care to know every detail of the story of astronauts? I wouldn't care. Of course maybe someone older who lived through the hype back then would really enjoy reading the ins and outs of the program. But to a young buck, astronauts are cool and all but give me the facts, give me the meat; I don't care for the jargon, the details of each flight etc. Better yet, give me the ... Read More
Rating: 
- The Beginning of Manned Spaceflight!
Tom Wolfe's research for The Right Stuff, is more historically accurate than the movie version. The book was warmly received by the astronaut community, especially among the surviving members of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. The book goes back to the beginning to the test pilots flying from Murac Field, now known as Edwards Air Force Base. The early jet and rocket research conducted at Edwards Air Force Base, led to Project Mercury, Project Gemini, Project Apollo and the Space Shuttle. You can ... Read More
Rating: - Zeitgeist of 50s and 60s in Full
Having seen the movie before reading the book, I expected Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF to be good. I was surprised how good it turned out to be in capturing the mood of the America in the late 50s and early 60s. Character, admittedly topped off with a little self-promotion in zorder to rise up the military ladder, was king. Also pointed out by Wolfe is the Protestant underpinings of the seven golden boys. Backed by Presbyterian and TIME magazine czar, H. Luce, John Glenn (Presbyterian to the core) became the ... Read More
Rating: - One of the finest books in the English language
The Right Stuff is essential readingfor any student of post-war western popular history whether or not you are interested in aviation and the space-race. Even if you dont hold with the concept of 'top three' books and the like, once you have read this, it will always come to mind when you are put on the spot and have to name your favourites.
- The REAL American IdolsI woke up this morning thinking about this book and the wonderful movie that followed. Being true to my instincts I will now read it again for the first time in 20 years. In a time when our heroes are overpaid athletes and overexposed celebrities (who cares about Brad and Angelina ?) it is high time we got our priorities straight and remember who our "idols" really are! Many of them are right here in this book.
- better than I expectedFrom the sound of it, a book about astronauts sounds like it would be interesting. But if you really think about it, do you really care to know every detail of the story of astronauts? I wouldn't care. Of course maybe someone older who lived through the hype back then would really enjoy reading the ins and outs of the program. But to a young buck, astronauts are cool and all but give me the facts, give me the meat; I don't care for the jargon, the details of each flight etc. Better yet, give me the ... Read More
- The Beginning of Manned Spaceflight!Tom Wolfe's research for The Right Stuff, is more historically accurate than the movie version. The book was warmly received by the astronaut community, especially among the surviving members of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. The book goes back to the beginning to the test pilots flying from Murac Field, now known as Edwards Air Force Base. The early jet and rocket research conducted at Edwards Air Force Base, led to Project Mercury, Project Gemini, Project Apollo and the Space Shuttle. You can ... Read More
- Zeitgeist of 50s and 60s in FullHaving seen the movie before reading the book, I expected Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF to be good. I was surprised how good it turned out to be in capturing the mood of the America in the late 50s and early 60s. Character, admittedly topped off with a little self-promotion in zorder to rise up the military ladder, was king. Also pointed out by Wolfe is the Protestant underpinings of the seven golden boys. Backed by Presbyterian and TIME magazine czar, H. Luce, John Glenn (Presbyterian to the core) became the ... Read More
- One of the finest books in the English languageThe Right Stuff is essential readingfor any student of post-war western popular history whether or not you are interested in aviation and the space-race. Even if you dont hold with the concept of 'top three' books and the like, once you have read this, it will always come to mind when you are put on the spot and have to name your favourites.
