The Right Stuff
by Tom Wolfe
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tom WolfeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-03-04
ISBN: 0312427565
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of The Right Stuff
Book Review: The Beginning of Manned Spaceflight!
Summary: 4 Stars
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 very easily get lost in the pages of this book. Not only did Mr. Wolfe do his research on the historic aspect of the book, he also researched the personal lives of the pilots, including Chuck Yeager and Scott Crossfield. As the book comes forward in time, Mr. Wolfe researched the personal lives of the Mercury 7 astronauts. The competition for astronaut selection, was intense and in competition with the Soviet Union. After the selection of the Mercury 7, the astronauts did have an agreement with Life Magazine to do their life stories. This is one aspect of the movie that agrees with the book. The Media's aggressive way in pursuing their stories, was not too well received by the astronauts. The issue regarding "extra-ciricular" was mentioned in the book and the movie. The way the issue was presented in the movie, was completely different than the book version. In the book, Gus Grissom was accurately presented, a pilot and an engineer. After the explosive bolts on the access hatch of Liberty Bell 7 were activated, Grissom was concerned. He also wanted to find the answers on why they activated. It was later theorized, static electricity from the rotor wash of the recovery helicopter, led to the accidential activation of the explosive bolts and the loss of the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft. The way Gus Grissom was portrayed in the movie, was not to well received by the astronaut community, especially among the surviving members of the Mercury 7 astronauts. In an interview of Wally Schirra that I seen years later on NASA Television, Captain Schirra talked about this very issue. Captain Schirra stated the book was more historically accurate. He didn't agree with the way the story was presented and did not agree with the way Gus Grissom was portrayed in the movie. Captain Schirra stated, the movie should have been titled "Animal House in Space!" One of the other astronauts who was mentioned in the book, was Deke Slayton. When Captain Slayton was selected for astronaut training, he had an irregular heartbeat. NASA's medical staff were hoping the condition would clear itself, before Slayton made his first spaceflight. Deke Slayton would have made his first mission, after John Glenn. A few months before his mission, the irregular heartbeat did not clear itself. Medical stardards at that time, forced the NASA flight surgeon to remove Deke Slayton from his flight and was replaced by Scott Carpenter. Deke Slayton became the Director of Flight Crew Operations and was a very effective and respected leader of the astronaut community.
For anyone who is interested in the beginning of the jet age and the early years of the space program, The Right Stuff is recommended reading. The book presents a excellent overview of that time in history and it explores the personal lives of the test pilots and the astronauts. After reading the book, the Internet will allow you to do any follow-up or detailed research on the subject if you so choose.
Summary of The Right Stuff
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)
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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. Chuck Yeager was certainly among the fastest, and his determination to push through Mach 1--a feat that some had predicted would cause the destruction of any aircraft--makes him the book's guiding spirit.
Yet soon the focus shifts to the seven initial astronauts. 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
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