The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition) The up close and personal story of americas space program at its conception. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/15/2005 Starring: Dennis Quaid Sam Shepard Run time: 193 minutes Rating: Pg	Yeager: An Autobiography Chuck Yeager tells his whole life story, from childhood with a hard working father, to breaking the sound barrier, to being a test pilot with the "right stuff".	The Bonfire of the Vanities: A Novel After Tom Wolfe defined the '60s in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers and the cultural U-turn at the turn of the '80s in The Right Stuff, nobody thought he could ever top himself again. In 1987, when The Bonfire of the Vanities...	The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test They say if you remember the '60s, you weren't there. But, fortunately, Tom Wolfe was there, notebook in hand, politely declining LSD while Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters fomented revolution, turning America on to a dangerously playful way of thinking as their Day-Glo con...	A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts A decade in the making, this book is based on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with each of the twenty-four moon voyagers, as well as those who contributed their brain power, training and teamwork on Earth. In his preface Chaikin writes, "We touched the face of anoth...
I Am Charlotte Simmons: A Novel Amazon.com Exclusive Content Product Description: Dupont University--the Olympian halls of learning housing the cream of America's youth, the roseate Gothic spires and manicured lawns suffused with tradition... Or so it appears to beautiful, brilliant Charlotte S...	In the Shadow of the Moon Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 02/26/2008 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: Pg	This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age (Modern Library Paperbacks) More comprehensive than The Right Stuff, more critical than Apollo 13, This New Ocean is a near-perfect history of the men (and occasional women) who have "slipped the surly bonds of Earth." Eminent science journalist and space expert William E. Burrows covers just about eve...	A Man in Full Ever since he published his classic 1972 essay "Why They Aren't Writing the Great American Novel Anymore," Tom Wolfe has made his fictional preferences loud and clear. For New Journalism's poster boy, minimalism is a wash, not to mention a failure of nerve. The real mission o...	From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition Originally broadcast in April and May of 1998, the epic miniseries From the Earth to the Moon was HBO's most expensive production to date, with a budget of $68 million. Hosted by executive producer Tom Hanks, the miniseries tackles the daunting challenge of chronicling the entire...

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 perfect promotional piece for the day and age. The narrative moves quickly. The sections on Yeager are worthy of their own treatment as a book. Wolfe is on top of his game, which in his case is not being too flowery.

One of the finest books in the English language
The Right Stuff is essential reading for 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.

Living on the outside of the envelope
In the years following WWII and Korea as the military graduated to fighter jets a certain hierarchy of talent developed. At the top of the pyramid were those in "flight test," where pilots with a certain indefinable something went to push the limits of the newest and most advanced jets. Landing several tons of metal atop a heaving and pitching aircraft carrier in the dark of night or "hanging your hide on the outside of the envelope" in experimental jets is a dangerous profession requiring what Mr. Wolfe calls "the Right Stuff." From Chuck Yeager, the first to exceed the speed of sound (Mach 1), to John Glenn and the other Mercury astronauts, few possess this right or "righteous stuff," and many are "left behind" on the climb up that pyramid. Mr. Wolfe introduces us to those who had it and some who died lacking it, as well as the competition of the "Space Race" of the 60s, and does so with a very distinct style that conveys the attitude of those who possessed it. The missions of the Mercury astronauts are covered in particular detail and sort of form the pinnacle of this story, from the enormous egos of some to the petty jealousies and politics that played out behind the perfect facade Life Magazine presented to the nation. In fact, the most singular aspect of this book for me would be the style with which it is written, dripping with the huge egos and arrogance of the pilots. Theirs is a dangerous job with few monetary rewards, requiring them to sacrifice family life and comfort, but carrying a thrill few people will ever experience. This, Mr. Wolfe explains, results in a feeling of superiority which he portrays excellently with his writing. And he conveys this attitude with certain phrases he uses repeatedly throughout, such as the "right stuff" or "flying & drinking, and drinking & driving," or the "Friend of Widows and Orphans," etc. It becomes a kind of shorthand for the concepts within the fraternity of pilots and their families. It's very interesting to learn of the lives and successes and defeats, particularly Chuck Yeager and John Glenn. But it is also this style which began to wear on me after a while - on the one hand the story is incredibly interesting, but on the other I got really tired of reading it and couldn't wait to just be done with the book. Also, the language of the book is pretty coarse, and hardly a page goes by that doesn't have several profanities or vulgarities, so be forewarned if you're bothered by that. But a fascinating story nonetheless and I can't wait to watch the movie now.

Dawn's Early Light
Bang! Zoom! Pow! If you like prose that crackles like sparklers in your eyes, and tells a good story besides, then Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff", about the Mercury 7 spaceflight program of the early 1960s, is for you. Published in 1979, back when the U.S. was the world's laughing stock and "malaise" was the operative word from the White House, "The Right Stuff" calls to mind with equal degrees of snark and awe a time when real heroes walked the earth and flew beyond and around it. Men, yes, but heroes, too. Wolfe never lets go of the human element, in fact, the best thing "The Right Stuff" has going for it. As a non-fiction novel, it has its limitations, too. Wolfe doesn't make up quotes, he hardly quotes the seven Mercury astronauts at the center of the story, except for flight transcripts and press conferences where their words are public record. But he doesn't seem to channel theirs or anyone else's voices, except Wolfe's own. Beginning with the book's title, he uses a lot of terms to capture what the early U.S. space program, and the test flights on experimental jets leading up to it, were really about. Terms like "the great ziggurat" "flying & drinking and drinking & driving", "true brother", "the mighty integral", often in caps, get a lot of use even though there's no sign anyone ever used them or even thought them up before Wolfe did. There's an overall tone of omnipotence that feels smug and gets in the way: Never mind what was going through John Glenn's mind when he was wondering if Friendship 7's heat shield had burned up on atmospheric reentry - here's what he REALLY MUST have thought! But the book is so entertaining, it really compensates for Wolfe's excesses. The astronauts were not breaking new ground; everything they did the Soviets did too, except sooner and for longer durations. But they were putting their lives on the line as investments toward a larger purpose, an achievement no other country has matched in close to 40 years, landing on the moon. And they were also disproving the notion that Americans after World War II were doomed to failure, that "our boys always botch it" mentality which hung over the country at the time (and which by 1979 was back with a vengeance). Sharp, funny, and full of graspable insights (the riders of the first Mercury capsules had as much control over their craft as does a Ferris-wheel rider), "The Right Stuff" may settle for entertainment over enlightenment, but it is very entertaining.

excellent read
As a 'random' book to pick up and read, I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of information provided in this book. I also enjoyed the writing style. Excellent excellent, must-read book!