Aurora 7 [Paperback]

Thomas Mallon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 2001

Thomas Mallon's acclaimed novel vividly tells the story of a day in May-May 24, 1962. While Scott Carpenter orbits the earth in his Aurora 7 capsule, the lives of a host of characters seem interwoven on the ground below: everyone from a convicted child killer to a famous novelist, a New York cabdriver, a sexually conflicted priest, and a British housewife about to give birth to a thalidomide-stricken baby.

Aurora 7 is above all the story of Gregory Noonan, a spooky suburban fifth-grader obsessed with the space program. The fate of Gregory and his family will prove mysteriously linked to the astronaut's when the boy flees school to watch the perilous climax of Carpenter's mission on the giant TV monitors in Grand Central Terminal. As John Updike observed, Mallon's novel-featuring cameos by Walter Cronkite, John F. Kennedy, and Lee Harvey Oswald-"hones a multitude of details to a gleaming, smoothly oiled fit . . . and catches dozens of characters in its shimmering web."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fifth-grader Gregory Noonan, obsessed with outer space, focuses on astronaut Scott Carpenter's 1962 triple orbit of the Earth in this audacious, exhilarating novel.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"Done with precision, lightness, and, overwhelmingly, a sense of irony. Mr. Mallon . . . has applied his talent for scrupulous historical research to make what amounts to a gift-wrapped time capsule."-THE NEW YORKER -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (April 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156011425
• ISBN-13: 978-0156011426
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wondrous novel of synchronicity and familial bonding, March 23, 2000

By 

U.N. Owen (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aurora 7 (Norton Paperback Fiction) (Paperback)

This novel reminds a bit of Damascus by Richard Beard since they both tell the events of a single day with some play between real time and imagined time. But unlike Beard's novel which rockets back and forth between past and present reimagined and possible meetings between two specific characters, Mallon uses multiple characters who eventually all cross paths in one climactic moment as Scott Carpenter is being rescued from the ocean after his successful orbit of the Earth in Aurora 7. There are interesting and bizarre historical coincidences peppered throughout the novel like the Civil War reconnaissance balloon Intrepid that flew in May 1862, 100 years before a Navy ship similarly named that recovered Carpenter. I mostly enjoyed how Mallon used the actual transcript of Carpenter's communication with NASA technicians as a framework for the storyline the takes place on Earth. This novel is thoroughly imaginative and filled with a love of humanity, the need for adventure and, most importantly, a respect for the bonds between parent and child. I read this to see if I would truly like Mallon after reading reviews of Two Moons. Now I'm set for his latest and I expect it to be just as good, if not better.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childhood, magic, and space flight combined, October 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Aurora 7 (Norton Paperback Fiction) (Paperback)

What a great book! Aurora 7 follows a young boy as he skips school on the day of Scott Carpenter's Mercury flight, wanders into New York City (where everyone is watching the flight on a giant Grand Central Station monitor), and has a fateful, miraculous meeting with his dad. Somehow, Carpenter's almost getting lost in space (he nearly didn't make it down) and the boy's fate get intertwinned. A soulful, gentle book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Space Race From a Different Point of View, March 1, 2009

By 

Himalayan Consulting "Himalayan Consulting" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aurora 7 (Paperback)

I was several years younger than the protagonist in this book, but old enough to remember that the space program in the early 1960s was incredibly exciting. I have read most of Thomas Mallon's books, and each has its own flavor and flair for period detail. This one captures the era beautifully, from life in a sleepy Long Island town, to the faded grandeur of Grand Central Station, to America's fascination with astronauts. Mallon writes with poetic nuances. His sentences are exquisitely crafted. His research is impeccable, and when he needs to take license, he states it clearly. I love how he can resurrect times in American history, significant, and less so, with exacting attention.