Tom Wolfe - The Right Stuff: A Novel

Pros: Exciting and revealing account of the American effort to open a new frontier in space.

Cons: Trendy writing style detracted somewhat for me.

The Bottom Line: Recommended. It's a well-researched account of America's Mercury space program. It deepens your understanding of how the program developed and the psychological underpinnings of the first astronauts.

Review: The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe, tells the story of the United States' early space race against the Soviet Union. Its central focus is the original seven astronauts and the Mercury program whose goal was to put men in orbit around the earth. ...