Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. Picador Press, 1979.
Reason read: April is supposed to be National Astronomy month. Right Stuff is about that journey to the stars and beyond.
Having the Right Stuff was a matter to pride to military pilots in the early to mid 1950s. Having the Right Stuff implied a massive manly skillset, superhuman nerves of steel, sharp mental confidence, and never-ending physical stamina. In other words, the perfect male specimen. It helps to have a twinkle in the eye, an awe-shucks attitude, and a winning smile of pearly whites. Did the writers for the Top Gun screenplay use Wolfe’s description of a pilot’s overly cocky daredevil demeanor? I couldn’t get Tom Cruise out of my head.
The recruiters knew just what to say to recruit the perfect seven would-be space travelers. The first rocket mission was to be voluntary, but the elevator speech was that it definitely would be very dangerous. Most definitely anything dangerous appealed to the seven pilots because they were appalled to learn they wouldn’t actually be flying the rocket. The other carrot dangled before them was the opportunity to be the first seven American men in space. No red-blooded macho man wanted to miss out on being the first at anything, even if that meant being the first to urinate in a space suit once strapped into the Mercury capsule five hours before liftoff.
As each mission became more dangerous, Wolfe’s narrative became more exciting. Whether up in the capsule with John Glenn, or down on the ground with their wives Wolfe puts you in the center of the action.
Author fact: I have a total of three Wolfe books on my Challenge list.
Book trivia: I wanted photographs of the astronauts or at least the Mercury rocket. Alas, there were none to speak of.
Quote that filled me with fear, “…technological illiterates with influence” (p 54). Sound familiar? I’m not naming names, but we have a few influential people who have no idea how to harness their technology.
As an aside, Pete Conrad sounds like someone with whom I could share a beer. His sense of humor had me laughing out loud. Case in point: the blank white paper test. He was asked what do you see on this paper? It is a plain white piece of paper without a single mark. He stares at it for a minute and deadpans, “But it’s upside down.” If the psychologists were looking to brain squeegee Pete Conrad they had another thing coming.
Tomorrow some celebrity types are going up in space. They have the money and the influence and the inclination to hurtle through the stars. My mother is all agog about this and went on for nearly twenty minutes about the celebrities in the rocket.
Music: Cole Porter, “Horst Wessel Song”, “Sugar Blues”, “Moonlight in Vermont”, and “Drifting and Dreaming”.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “The Moon’s My Destination” (p 157).
~*LunaSea*~ 