A look at the beginnings of space flight in the USA and the people who "rode the rockets" and their families. The book looks at it from the breaking of the sound barrier and concludes at the beginning of Gemini missions time frame. It also takes a look at the psychology needed to be a test pilot and astronaut, and if both truly have "The Right Stuff".

I very much enjoyed this look at the history of space flight and the how the people felt at the time. ( )

Goddamn fantastic. ( )

The Mercury astronauts and their place in the fraternity of test pilots
I recall reading this book many years ago, in a paperback edition, but when the new Folio edition arrived I decided to read it again. I have often thought about some of the passages in the book, like the description of the drawl of the airline pilots deriving from Chuck Yeager, and the enema revolt. I also recalled Tom Wolfe's unique voice, and his vivid descriptions. I did not recall the drama of Gordon Cooper's difficult late Mercury flight, about the x-series rocket planes, and Chuck Yeager's attempt at an altitude record in a rocket powered F-104 that ended in a crash and injury. This is Tom Wolfe's best work. ( )

07/02/22

Wolfe is hyperbolic, repetitive, and extremely full of himself. I couldn't stand the thought of another 250 pages of his smug assertions of the superhuman cockiness of the pilots with none of the real explanations of why astronauts were being trained the way they were.

Give me a book that talks more about the planes and rockets, that doesn't have a weird anti-science bent, that isn't so biased against Grissom.

And if you ever want to relive your nostalgia for the sexism and paternalism of the 1960s, this is your book. ( )