31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Charming page-turner with philosophical undertones, April 15, 2002
This review is from: The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space (Hardcover)
Selected with the third group of American astronauts in 1963, Eugene Cernan "walked" in space as the pilot of Gemini 9, went around the Moon on Apollo 10, then returned there as the Commander of Apollo 17, the last lunar landing mission. A successful and interesting career even for astronaut standards. His autobiography, "The Last Man on the Moon", offers a personal account of those glory days of space exploration.
Throughout the book, Cernan portrays himself as a competitive workaholic, and it shows: there are a few introductory chapters on Gene's childhood and career as a naval aviator, and a brief afterthought on life after NASA, but the bulk of "Last Man" is about the space program, the space program, and the space program. Training and mission planning, the mechanics of crew selection, descriptions of his colleagues and anecdotes about their extracurricular activities, it's all there. The flights themselves are recounted in vivid detail, including a nauseatingly dangerous EVA on Gemini 9 and geology trips through the lunar valley of Taurus-Littrow. Overall, as Cernan later reflects, it feels "as if I was getting off one fast-moving express train only to immediately board another", and describes well the hectic and busy pace of the Moon race.
Underlying it all, and well in evidence, is the aggressive "right stuff" attitude usually found with this elite of pilots. It's easy to mistake Gene's self-confidence for arrogance, but he also displays plenty of humour and self-ironic jabs. Cernan was one of the more personable and gregarious astronauts, who clearly enjoyed the social perks that came with the job, and it's this mixture of cocky determination and laid-back charm that make his autobiography a gripping read. Indeed, "Last Man" is a page-turner in the real sense of the word. Particularly enlightening is the episode that saw Geno decline a LM pilot seat on Apollo 16, a gamble that paid off and in the end brought him command of his own mission. So is his relationship with geologist-astronaut Jack Schmitt, whom Cernan only grudgingly accepted on his crew. After some initial macho reservations against the "pebble-pusher", he learned to respect Schmitt as a tireless worker and supremely gifted individual who helped make Apollo 17 the most well rounded team of all. In between, with the lunar module on Apollo 10 spinning out of control for a moment, or a helicopter crash in training, there are enough close calls for several lifetimes.
The human qualities of the book show when Gene talks about his wife, Barbara, and the ordeals she had to go through, with an often absent husband in a dangerous job, while always displaying the brave "Mrs. Astronaut" to the public world. Ultimately, this ordeal led to the disintegration of Cernan's first marriage, and he speaks with a heightened sense of value about his family of today and his grandchildren. Such a sense of deep appreciation and philosophical reflection also shines through when Gene recounts his awe as one of only twelve humans to ever set foot on the Moon, "looking up at the cobalt Earth immersed in infinite blackness", and how the unique experience might have changed him. These are moments that he clearly treasures deeply, that left him with a restless yearning forever after. Cernan seems sad, not selfish, thinking that the accomplishments of the ten years of Apollo would probably take twice as long today, in a much more cautious and conservative age of spacefaring. And he expresses a sense of guilt at feeling unable to truly share what he saw in space with the rest of the world.
Geno needn't have worried there, for "The Last Man on the Moon" is a fabulous book. Well-written and informative, it leaves little to be desired. Perhaps, given the awe-inspiring nature of the subject, some chapters fly by just a tad too quickly, and one could have wished for a little more detail here, or a little deeper thought there. Overall, though, there are few better astronaut biographies. The page-turner qualities, Cernan's unique perspective (here is one of the three guys who went to the Moon twice!) and a subtle, but strong sense of philosophical reflection make for a very worthwhile read, not only for space enthusiasts.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Australian moonshine on the last man!, January 8, 2000
This review is from: The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space (Hardcover)
I loved the book! I have had it for ten months and must have read it five times. I was just a young Australian schoolboy when Geno went around the moon with Apollo 10 and yet I remember that flight, and especially the one that followed, as if it was yesterday. Like others, I love the book's personal touch. Gone is the techno fuzz typical of so many books on the space age. Geno tells it like it was: pride, glory, pain, sadness, fun, love, tragedy. The only disappointment - and a small one - is that I wanted to know more. More about him, more about his family, more about 1972-1998, a period that passes in the book like a stolen second. Americans should feel proud of what Geno and his colleagues did. The moon landing (along with the U.S.'s involvement in World War II) was perhaps America's greatest hour. Geno I hope you read this, I hope life gives us an opportunity to meet Down-under sometime.
Who needs Buzz Lightyear for a hero. I had Gene Cernan.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Last Man on the Moon Writes About His Experience, January 16, 2006
Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon. When he stepped back into his spacecraft, Apollo 17, in December of 1972, another human would not venture to the moon, much less feel its surface for the remainder of the 20th century, and most likely well into the 21st century.
Cernan tells the story of how he became an astronaut, his three fights into space, and finally his culminating achievement - his 3-day stay on the surface of the moon. It is an intriguing story, which gives insights into the many perils of space exploration, the stringent qualifications and training of the astronauts, the tremendous personal and professional sacrifices made, and finally the unique toughts and feelings of one who has actually cavorted and explored the moon's alien surface. As an amateur sky-watcher, I already had a keen interest in space travel and moon exploration, but I think anyone with even a passing interest in space or science would find this book interesting and a good read.
I learned some things from Cernan's book. I was surprised at the amount of in-fighting that went on between the astronauts in regards to their pecking order for spaceflights, and the clashing of their (well-deserved) egos. I also learned about the many close-calls that several space flights experienced that were buried by NASA and were never made public. I also appreciated the conflicts and tension that being an astronaut had on one's marriage. Cernan and many other astronauts suffered through the sorrows of divorce because of the immense time away, and training that NASA expected of their heros.
While not a gripping page-turner, this book is still an entertaining and informational book about NASA and our race to get to the moon before the Russians. The reader will gain personal insights into the people inside of the space suits, and will get to experience first-hand the experience of walking on the moon. Recommended.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig
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