Reviews

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

benpappyboi's review

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informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.25

jakebartz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective

4.75

lekakis's review

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3.0

This book was well written to some extend. It had good cadence. It was funny and entertaining until it wasn’t. There was a lot of masculinity and mad-men (tv show) type of mentality going around. And some history and the astronauts feelings and the culture of military test pilots.

It was funny in a stupid way, it was so stupid I couldn’t take it seriously. But at some point touched on the subject of the first African American astronaut ... and then it wasn’t funny anymore. Tom Wolfe might was talented but certainly was either an idiot or a racist. Who knows maybe both.

thisisstephenbetts's review

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3.0

Having just about got over I Am Charlotte Simmons, I wanted to remind myself why Tom Wolfe was once considered an important writer. And my faith was restored. While his style is still a little too jarring with its vernacular stylings, here it is put to good use. Wolfe does a brilliant job of conveying the culture of elite military pilots. Having established the fighter-jock spirit he shows how it was undermined in the early days of the space programme, and then how it was gradually restored so that astronaut became the new pinnacle to which a pilot could aspire. A fascinating and detailed story, with naturally huge and over-the-top characters, suitably voiced by a naturally huge and over-the-top writer.

(Interesting to see that Wolfe was using his the frankly disturbing phrase "loamy loins" - scattered rather too liberally through I Am Charlotte Simmons - as early as The Right Stuff. Try not to let that put you off.)

hoboken's review

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5.0

Great writing about flying, great US history, great social commentary, great intro to Tom Wolfe.

jwinchell's review against another edition

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2.0

It was fun to participate in the One Book One Chicago experience again, but I don't think I would have made it through this rather long book if I weren't waiting (patiently! patiently!) to have my baby. It *was* interesting to learn about the earliest days of the U.S. space program, but Wolfe's thesis (these pilots have the right stuff!) was relentless and tiring.

momomo's review against another edition

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3.0

At its best, Tow Wolfes novelized account of the mercury space program is an incredibly engaging read giving a sense of the excitement that came with being among the first astronauts. At its worst, the book is overly repetitive and strangely subjective, seeming to lack a clear structure or end point to build towards.

hc21's review

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2.0

Perhaps a very interesting book for space nerds that already worship pilots and astronauts. But for those who are just looking to learn new things, the endless pages of whining by egotistical men are perhaps not the best use of one's time.

lilyjoyner's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 it was not an enjoyable read. ( T_T)\(^-^ )

tittypete's review against another edition

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5.0


Tom Wolfe could write about lead-poisoning-induced constipation and it would still be utterly fascinating. But here he’s talking about the wild early days of the US space program so the fascinating score is double for Tom. The book starts with test pilots in the California desert who would fly dangerous experimental planes and then get shitfaced at the local bar and then drive home super fast. Flying and drinking and drinking and driving. A bunch of them die. But almost exclusively from the flying part. The bits about landing on an aircraft carrier at night are particularly pants-shitting. The job has something like a 70% survival rate and it’s not even wartime.

So this the group of folks from which the first seven astronauts were picked. Most of them seemed cool except for John Glenn who comes across like a pompous asshole. Guys who are cool pushing the limits of untested prototype aircraft are good candidates for the job of sitting atop a rocket and being launched into space. The fact that all previous unmanned rocket launch attempts had exploded on the pad notwithstanding. It was nuts. These dudes didn’t give a frick.

Anyway they shoot some monkeys up into space first (this is one of the best parts of the book) and then they shoot some dudes up there. Alan Shepard get to go first and has to piss all over himself because there’s no piss tube. But John Glenn sort of gets all the credit because he actually orbits. Gordo Cooper was best of all because he actually piloted his craft a little. Everybody's wife gets pretty stressed out.

This was a good one.