In terms of astronaut autobiographies (and biographies), there isn't that much out there on shuttle astronauts. With the program winding down, we are starting to see some and IMHO Mike has set a pretty high bar (or low depending on your point of view). It is admittedly not a book for kids, unless they have the maturity to understand some of the humorous bits for what they are. Some adults even might be offended by the seemingly crass "toilet" humor, but it puts things into proper perspective about what life as an astronaut must have been like at the time. This is important to consider since I don't watch movies or comedy with "toilet" humor themes. But, I was brought up in a military family in the 1970s and have encountered similar characters in uniform to those that Mike describes in his book. So the humor does have its place in the context of this story.
The early childhood stuff is a fun read in and of itself. I too played with rockets as a kid. But of course it wasn't as dangerous as it was when Mike was flying them. The teenage and college years at West Point are also fascinating in terms of what it meant to grow up as a Catholic and be madly in love with someone (or lust) just to keep from going insane.
When the book gets to NASA's early shuttle days, you get insights into several of the characters that formed that first class of shuttle astronauts. Judy Resnik is the one people talk about the most, obviously considering her loss on Challenger. Considering it is doubtful we will ever read a dedicated biography of Judy Resnik, this book probably provides the best insight into her life as an astronaut. But the stories about other notable TFNGs such as Shannon Lucid, Hoot Gibson, Hank Hartsfield, Steve Hawley, Sally Ride and Rhea Seddon are also eye opening (how Rhea and Hoot ever decided to get married, I'll never know).
Mike's views on the goings-on at NASA certainly pull no punches. To me, his conclusions seem right on and it can be a real eye opener to see just how close to disaster that many shuttle flights got (but risk is part of the game in space exploration). It also provides hints as to why some astronauts were willing to stick with the program for the long haul while others retired after only a flight or two. The astronaut corps is certainly not for everybody in terms of its mix of hardware, engineering and bureaucracy.
The visions of Mike's views from orbit helped convey to me an idea of just what it may have been like, so I do believe the title of "poet" is a correct one for him. I too would have loved to zip up in a sleeping bag and drift next to an orbiter window, looking down at the world below. Considering that very few people can do that, this is the next best thing.
These are the reasons why I recommend this book. After reading it, I also urge you to pick up a copy of Tom Jones' book "Sky Walking" as, by some weird fate, it practically picks up where "Riding Rockets" left off as Tom entered the astronaut corps in the same year that Mike retired (1990). There are some interesting parallels as both Mike and Tom were selected as Mission Specialists, both were Catholics and both had Military backgrounds. But that is where the similarities end. That book is a different read and with it you can see how the astronaut corps seemed to grow out of its pre-PC days with the TFNGs to the current crop of astronauts who have the same love of the job, but who aren't into the beer drinking and childish antics. Mike mentions that briefly at the end of "Riding Rockets". With both books, you get an almost continuous history of the shuttle program from 1978 until 2001 (with "Riding Rockets" covering it from 1978 until 1990).
