The Right Stuff to Get You Into College

Go for a wild ride with Tom Wolfe in The Right Stuff as he attempts to define the incredible qualities that enabled pilots to succeed with experimental high-speed and rocket-powered aircrafts during the space race with the Soviet Union. Through this nonfiction novel, Wolfe sheds light on the brave, thrill-seeking and sometimes completely insane test pilots who made the seemingly impossible possible. They are then cleverly juxtaposed to the more marketable, college-educated Project Mercury astronauts who were eventually chosen by NASA to go into space. 

The writing is fast-paced and addictive, much like the personalities of the test pilots Wolfe interviews and observes. Reading The Right Stuff will not only demystify the motives and goals of these star-bound trailblazers, but it will provide insight into a very important part of our country’s aeronautical history.

Literary Trivia:

Chuck Yeager originally enlisted in the army as a mechanic. Within two years he was a pilot, and he would eventually become the first man ever recorded to break the sound barrier.

Favorite Quotations:

“Yeager had always figured it was useless to try to punch out of a rocket plane. Crossfield called it “committing suicide to keep from getting killed.” 
― Tom Wolfe,The Right Stuff

“In time, the Navy would compile statistics showing that for a career Navy pilot, i.e., one who intended to keep flying for twenty years... there was a 23 percent probability that he would die in an aircraft accident. This did not even include combat deaths, since the military did not classify death in combat as accidental.” 
― Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff