![]() ![]() ![]() The Press is a ravenous fool, always referred to as "the eternal Victorian Gent": when Walter Cronkite's voice breaks while reporting a possible astronaut death, "There was the Press the Genteel Gent, coming up with the appropriate emotion. ![]() His astronauts (referred to as "the brethren" or "The True Brothers") are obsessed with having the "right stuff" that certain blend of guts and smarts that spells pilot success. But instead of replacing the heroic standard version with the ring of truth, Wolfe merely offers an alternative myth: a surreal, satiric, often cartoony Wolfe-arama that, especially since there isn't a bit of documentation along the way, has one constantly wondering if anything really happened the way Wolfe tells it. He even throws in some of the technology. He begins with the competitive, macho world of test pilots from which the astronauts came (thus being grossly overqualified to just sit in a controlled capsule) he follows the choosing of the Seven, the preparations for space flight, the flights themselves, the feelings of the wives and he presents the breathless press coverage, the sudden celebrity, the glorification. Overkill" hasn't really got the fight stuff for the job. ![]() Space Program's launching-the inside story of those first seven astronauts.īut no: jazzy, jivey, exclamation-pointed, italicized Tom Wolfe "Mr. Yes: it's high time for a de-romanticized, de-mythified, close-up retelling of the U.S. ![]()
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