THE ALL-AMERICAN BOYS

by Walter Cunningham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1977

Cunningham was a member of the three-man Apollo Seven mission which remained in orbit for eleven days; when he came down he fell into what Torn Wolfe called ""postorbital remorse."" He knew that never again would he achieve such a period of maximum personal triumph. Even the idea of riding a rocket into outer space--it had become real as a snowball packed from bodiless stuff of maddest fantasy. Cunningham's domestic life fell into the doldrums as he soared through expensive parties and met world-celebrities, but no more so than the homelives of his fellow astronauts. His position on the ladder leading to membership in the historic lunar crew was given a boost when a tragic module fire took the lives of a three-man crew ahead of his, The eleven-day voyage is the book's centerpiece, but not particularly dramatic. The book will be read, deservedly, for its relentless, no-holds-barred character examinations of the outstanding astronauts, the heroes' feet of clay as they sell out to TV hucksters and shrink, shrink, shrink with postorbital meretriciousness and megalomania. An insider's insightful view.

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1977

ISBN: 1596873450

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION