The Right Stuff

Description

Tom Wolfe traces the culture that carried postwar American test pilots from experimental rocket planes toward the first NASA Mercury missions. Drawing on extensive interviews with pilots, astronauts, wives, and others, he asks why men accepted extreme danger and which mental and physical qualities their peers recognized as “the right stuff.” The Mercury Seven become national heroes before proving themselves in space, while accomplished test pilots such as Chuck Yeager pursue speed and altitude without comparable public acclaim. Wolfe contrasts official pageantry with cockpit risk, professional rivalry, domestic strain, and the private costs borne by families expected to treat fear as weakness. His energetic, satirical reportage examines how courage becomes a code within a closed community and a public myth in Cold War America.

Themes