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The Right Stuff Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Tom Wolfe (Author), Dennis Quaid (Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 5,454 ratings
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From "America's nerviest journalist" (Newsweek) - a breathtaking epic, a magnificent adventure story, and an investigation into the true heroism and courage of the first Americans to conquer space. "Tom Wolfe at his very best" (The New York Times Book Review)

Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure: namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers that made The Right Stuff a classic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tom Wolfe is the author of more than a dozen books, among them such contemporary classics as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he earned his B.A. at Washington and Lee University and a PhD. in American studies at Yale. He lives in New York City.

ABOUT THE NARRATOR

Dennis Quaid is renowned for his distinct portrayals in both comedic and dramatic roles over the past forty years. Quaid can next be seen in Roadside Attraction's faith-based film I Can Only Imagine which will be released on March 16, 2018.

Dennis most recently stared in Crackle's auctioneering drama The Art of More on which he also served as an executive producer. On the big screen, he was recently seen starring in Universal's A Dog's Purpose as well as in the fact-based drama Truth. He will next begin filming the third season of the BAFTA award-nominated television series Fortitude and recently completed production on Lionsgate's Kin with James Franco.

Quaid began to gain attention in the late 1970s for roles in such films as Breaking Away before gaining public and critical acclaim for his role in the 1983 release The Right Stuff. Other notable credits include The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Vantage Point, Frequency, The Parent Trap, and Soul Surfer. For his role in Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. In 2010 he was nominated for numerous awards including a SAG Award, an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Bill Clinton in the TV Movie, A Special Relationship.

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  1. Listening Length
    15 hours and 42 minutes
  2. Author
    Tom Wolfe
  3. Narrator
    Dennis Quaid
  4. Audible release date
    February 6, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Audible Studios
  7. ASIN
    B077K6P2XP
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
5,454 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book great and enjoyable. They praise the writing quality as superb, vivid, and exquisite. Readers describe the history as interesting and fascinating. They appreciate the good information and enlightening commentary. They describe the pacing as deeply engaging, exciting, and addictive. Reader also find the humor funny and witty.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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ReadabilityWriting qualityHistoryInformation qualityPacingHumorRecompetition
187 customers mention "Readability"187 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth reading. They say it's a good, frank, and honest look at the space program. Readers also mention the book is exciting and compelled them to finish it.

"This is one of the best written books on early space history one can read...." Read more

"...This Vintage Classics copy is a nice paperback edition with a great pop-art cover and an introduction from Astronaut Scott Kelly that helps to..." Read more

"...Overall, it's a good read once you get used to the style, especially for those of us that grew up during the Space Race." Read more

"...You will enjoy the book. A very interesting time in our nation’s history." Read more

129 customers mention "Writing quality"107 positive22 negative

Customers find the writing quality superb, vivid, and economical. They say the author is a wonderful storyteller and his style is fully utilized to dramatic and comedic effect. Readers also appreciate the factual detail and accurate portrayal of emotions.

"...Tom Wolfe’s vivid reporting makes the reader feel he or she is flying along side the astronauts during their dangerous missions..." Read more

"Wolfe is an enormously talented writer...." Read more

"...The writer uses wit, sarcasm, and the truth to present a pretty factual tale of the people who have “the right stuff”...." Read more

"A superbly written story of the first seven US astronauts...." Read more

60 customers mention "History"60 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting and fantastic. They say it provides a rich perspective on the culture among the test pilots and astronauts of that time. Readers also mention it's a great trip down memory lane and nostalgic.

"...This book is filled with historical information. The book takes place in 1957-1963. During the Cold War many historical space events occurred...." Read more

"...There's a lot of good historical info that's not in the movie, which I found interesting, but some if it is difficult to glean as Wolfe spends so..." Read more

"...Personally I liked the story a lot, it was very interesting, but I feel like the story spent a lot of time around things that were not important to..." Read more

"...I lived the years of which he writes and he has caught the time perfectly...." Read more

56 customers mention "Information quality"52 positive4 negative

Customers find the information in the book good, enlightening, and engaging. They say it provides good characterizations of the original astronauts. Readers also mention the book is well-researched and written.

"...To be sure this is a very well written and reasearched book, but even at best it’s just decent history...." Read more

"...with the grandeur of space exploration, but he is also a sharp and critical observer, contrasting the macho attitudes of the astronauts with the..." Read more

"...The book itself provides very good characterizations of the original astronauts, and makes you feel like you know who they are and how they will..." Read more

"...voice is pretty unique in writing - conversational and familiar, sharp and analytical, a bit of the South in it......" Read more

41 customers mention "Pacing"36 positive5 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book deeply engaging, exciting, and addictive. They say the writing really pulls them in and is suspenseful. Readers also mention the narrative moves quickly and they are enraptured by it.

"My second reading of “The Right Stuff” was even more satisfying than the first...." Read more

"The Right Stuff is not only an important book, but a fun, engaging, and adventure book...." Read more

"...The story was very engrossing, well written and addicting...." Read more

"Great shape book -- fast service 5 stars!! Thanks!!" Read more

18 customers mention "Humor"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the humor in the book incredibly funny and sarcastic at times. They also say the prose is punchy, raw, and economical. Readers mention the book is one of the defining pieces of writing of our time.

"...The writer uses wit, sarcasm, and the truth to present a pretty factual tale of the people who have “the right stuff”...." Read more

"...At times it's hilarious, other times maddeningly wordy. Sometimes interesting, other times it wanders into the weeds...." Read more

"...Wolfe's style is light and often witty. He uses jargon, colorful figures of speech, and hyperbole...." Read more

"...his prose is punchy, raw, economical, and it matches the subject matter exquisitely...." Read more

12 customers mention "Recompetition"0 positive12 negative

Customers find the content annoying, repetitive, and confusing. They also say the scanning errors are confusing and make it impossible to figure out what the author intended. Readers also mention the writing style is hard to follow and read.

"...not in the movie, which I found interesting, but some if it is difficult to glean as Wolfe spends so much time telling us "what it all means,"..." Read more

"...It was tedious, made more so by its lack of a list of abbreviations and an index...." Read more

"...As to Wolfe's style, it is incredibly repetitive and most of the book comes down to one or two ideas, which may or may not have much truth to them;..." Read more

"...I wasn't a fan of the stylized prose of the book. The suppositions annoyed me...." Read more

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Top reviews from the United States

Published author
5.0 out of 5 stars The Right Words in the Right Order
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2024
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My second reading of “The Right Stuff” was even more satisfying than the first. Tom Wolfe’s vivid reporting makes the reader feel he or she is flying along side the astronauts during their dangerous missions (“ our rockets always blow up”).

Wolfe also captures the enveloping paranoia that gripped the U.S. after the Russians put the first man, and then the first woman, into space, 1957-1962, as millions of people in the U.S. feared that Russia would begin dropping atomic weapons from its satellites.

A wonderful reading experience.
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Boylan Carbuncle
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2024
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Wolfe is an enormously talented writer. I think it was Hemingway who said he wanted his readers to feel they were in the middle of the story while it's happening. Wolfe does that.
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Susan B. Kober
4.0 out of 5 stars The Right Stuff Review
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2013
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When World War Two was over, the American Air force started to work with jet planes. Planes the were faster, more agile, and had more altitude. The Cold War was heating up when in 1957. The Russian launched Sputnik 1 into space. This set the Americans on a small edge. The American government was afraid the Russians would put nuclear weapons in space and launch them at America. So the U.S. decided to start their own space program. Only America wanted to put people in space. The Mercury Project was established and was indented to train and put people in space. The Astronauts were selected based on their aviation history with rocked planes. Then the candidates would be brought to a facility to be tested on to see if they were capable enough to be shot into space(did they have to right stuff). The seven astronauts were selected and mission started. The American space program was slow and by the time one capsule was working the Russians had launched many more. The program was finally successful when Alan Shepard went into space and when John Glenn orbited earth. The book introduces struggles that NASA and America overcame to go to space.

There were many things that I liked about this book. The way the author describes the setting makes you feel as if you were there in the early 1960's with them. I really enjoyed reading this book because it explain a lot of the behind the stage astronaut activity not many know about. I was very interesting to learn about the tests and struggles the pilots had to go through to became astronauts. One of the only things that I didn't like about the book was the fact that the "story" did not really carry out. The book only focused on a six year period from 1957-63. There is no doubt in my mind that these were very significant years in the space race, but the book didn't mention the moon landing I really did enjoy this book though. There were not really any themes or messages in this book because it was a non-fiction book.

If anyone is interested in space of history this would be a great book for them. Since this boo;k is about the space race it is focused on America's retaliation to Russia's launch of Sputnik 1. This book is about America building a space program and trying to bet Russia to space. If you ire into history this would also be a good book for you. This book is filled with historical information. The book takes place in 1957-1963. During the Cold War many historical space events occurred. The heat was on as Russia and America went heat to head in a battle for the stars. So if your into history or space, This would be a great book for you.
2 people found this helpful
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Leonard Madia
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read, better between the lines.
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2018
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This is one of the best written books on early space history one can read. The writer uses wit, sarcasm, and the truth to present a pretty factual tale of the people who have “the right stuff”. However it’s important to read the book with a little Skepticism. Mr Wolfe was not beyond bending a yawn just a bit for literary purposes. This is easily illustrated by his handling of the Gus Ghrism Mercury flight and the exploading door controversy. And, to be fair, I don’t think a strick account was the writer’s purpose.

A careful reader should have little trouble looking through the opening provided by Mr. Wolfe at the obvious hypocrisy of that time, and then at the only real sympathetic person in the book, Chuck Yeager. For, it is Mr Yeager who had, and always possessed the “right stuff”; true character and courage in the face of adversity. Indeed according to Wolfe, Yeager took part in the “flying and drinking and driving and drinking” philosophy of the test pilots, but the reader gets the sense that with Yeager there was a bit of restraint. The real issue is that he, Yeager, would be overlooked for the astronaut training program because he did not have the “stuff” according to NASA. This occurred despite the fact that everyone in any area of military flying knew Yeager was the best. He had more than enough of the. “right stuff”.

So, when one reads the book in that manner it becomes a joy. Read it slowly so you are able to soak in the subtle snubs and all the little kicks aimed at NASA, the government, the media, and what would soon be called the establishment. A wonderful example is the then Vice President Johnson’s outrage when Mrs. Glenn would not meet with him prior to her husband’s flight.

To be sure this is a very well written and reasearched book, but even at best it’s just decent history. And, indeed, I don’t believe that was the author’s purpose. If you keep that in mind I believe you will enjoy yourself and perhaps pickup on what I believe the writer is trying to say, who actually has “the right stuff”.

To know and understand the real issue, and in a sense the real tradgey of the book is a much more important then the actual history. For Wolfe presents the “real” history of that time and what really mattered; those who actually possessed the “right stuff”.
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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OC
5.0 out of 5 stars The right story
Reviewed in Brazil on October 27, 2021
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Essa é a versão original, excelente. Fuja de releituras sensacionalistas, como a disponivel em um certo serviço de streaming (não é o Prime) que despreza os fatos em prol de uma estória mais apelativa. O filme dos anos 80 é bem mais próximo ao livro e também vale a pena.
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DaveWallace
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for any Space Lover
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2024
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Brilliant. Loved it, cover to cover. What incredible brave heroes these men were that opened up that great frontier that has subsequently revealed so much to us regarding Life.
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Mario Mora Lara
4.0 out of 5 stars la aventura de conquistar el espacio
Reviewed in Mexico on July 11, 2021
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una lectura necesaria para descubrir los aportes de la carrera espacial
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Shammo
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome !
Reviewed in India on May 12, 2022
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Very lively storytelling
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Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Wife doesn’t care about space but likes to read. I bought for her. She likes space now
Reviewed in Canada on May 30, 2020
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I bought this for my wife who is not a space person at all... despite me bringing her to some of the best air and space museums in the world. But after she read this book it really opened her eyes.
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