The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed (Paperback)

by John McPhee (Author) "IN GREAT SECRECY, on a private airstrip about fifty miles southwest of New York, Aereon 7 got ready to fly..." (more)
Key Phrases: deltoid pumpkin seed, triple hull, naval airships, New Jersey, Monroe Drew, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Since the explosion of the Hindenburg in Lakehurst, New Jersey, energy-efficient, lighter-than-air ships have given way to gas-guzzling jet aircraft. But in the 1960s, an unusual band of inventors, engineers and investors, again in New Jersey, created the Aereon, a strange, wingless hybrid airplane/dirigible. The Aereon--the Deltoid Pumpkin Seed-- promised to be a safe workhorse of the skies, capable of carrying the payload of entire freight trains with minimal cost.

In this exquisitely crafted tale of back-to-the-drawing-board perseverance, McPhee tells the story not only of the Aereon, but of any product development team. He astutely delineates the team members' personalities and interactions, delves back in time to the origins of lighter-than-air craft and the history of propellers, and in the end, makes us wonder why this promising technology hasn't been perfected. Like Aramis: Or the Love of Technology, this is a splendid book about a potentially superior aircraft which has yet to be adopted.

Review
"It's a book Leonardo da Vinci would have warmed to, a set of experiments he's have changed."—Paul West, The Washington Post

"What gives [McPhee's] writing its powerful fascination is the strange, raw quality of fact: it all really happened, just the way . . . McPhee watches so intently that the Aereon and its people become real and important to the reader."—John Skow, Los Angeles Times

"McPhee has a genius for writing about unusual people whose activities border on the eccentric, and the Aereon project abounded with them. His engrossing account can be read at a sitting."—Donald R. Morris, The Houston Post
-- Review

It's a book Leonard da Vinci would have warmed to, a set of experiments he'd have cheered. -- The Washington Post

What gives [McPhee's] writing its powerful fascination is the strange, raw quality of fact: it all really happened, just this way.... McPhee watches so intently that the Aereon and its people become real and important to the reader. -- Los Angeles Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (September 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374516359
• ISBN-13: 978-0374516352
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #361,396 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For a sense of wonder and anticipation that stays with you, April 23, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Georgia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This is the first McPhee book I ever read-- way back when it first came out. How well I remember it! How many years I have continued to look for news of the needed technology for large scale commercial use of lighter than air craft finally being mastered (and we still seem on the brink of making it work). A bookstore clerk had told me as I picked up the book, "That is one strange book. We do not know where to put it. Should it be in history, science, biography, reference, the technology section on air craft, business? No place seems quite right." I knew I would read more books by McPhee after this exquisite find, but I did not expect the next one to be on-- oranges! What a book The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed is; what a writer McPhee is. His books always leave you with the feeling that you now have a special insight into something out of the ordinary. And indeed you do.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great McPhee work, February 7, 2002

By	"hassnick" (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews

I am an unabashed fan of John McPhee, and believe him to be one of the todays's best non-fiction writers. _The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed_ does nothing but reinforce my impression.

I knew very little about 'lighter-than-air' history or technology before reading _Pumpkin Seed_, but McPhee assumes no prior knowledge. Indeed, one of the things I like best about McPhee is his ability to explain topics of a complex nature to a lay audience.

The story's 'characters' are exquisitely developed, and their interactions with each other are sometimes tragic, often hillarious. A number of them would make fascinating subjects for biographies in their own right.

If you have any interest in avaiation history, or just enjoy reading a well-crafted non-fiction work, I highly recommend this book.

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weird, prolix prose, July 8, 2006

By	Bob Manson (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was disappointed to find the book has almost nothing to do with Solomon Andrews, he only rates five pages. Most of it is the mundane story of a group of well-meaning but inept lunatics trying to build and fly an "aerobody"--a "wingless" airplane shaped vaguely like one of Andrews' claimed balloon designs. (They sort of succeed, but the Aereon company goes broke a few weeks later and eventually the craft is put in permanent storage.)

Obviously the airplane (airplane? airplane!) had a wing, it just didn't look like one. Someday I will build the "crumpled-paper airplane" where I hang a motor underneath a giant piece of crumpled paper... perhaps I can call it a "crumpulator".

McPhee's writing is a little strange, and many words are used in slightly odd ways. It's not horrible, but not good. (I'm not anxious to read any of his other books, let's put it that way.)

The story itself is predictable, if you're familiar with the history of mad scientists with mediocre ideas. The design is kept in secret; the first N all-in attempts catastrophically fail on their first try; inadequate testing; absurd visionary dreams; insufficient funding; infighting; religious mania; suppression by "the man". It was interesting to read, but only in the same way watching a dot-com fail in slow motion is interesting.

I'm very interested in learning about Andrews and whether his designs ever actually existed (and worked), but this isn't the place to find out.