For many, the moon landing was the defining event of the twentieth century. So it seems only fitting that Norman Mailer--the literary provocateur who altered the landscape of American nonfiction--wrote the most wide-ranging, far-seeing chronicle of the Apollo 11 mission. A classic chronicle of America's reach for greatness in the midst of the Cold War, "Of a Fire on the Moon "compiles the reportage Mailer published between 1969 and 1970 in "Life "magazine: gripping firsthand dispatches from inside NASA's clandestine operations in Houston and Cape Kennedy; technical insights into the magnitude of their awe-inspiring feat; and prescient meditations that place the event in human context as only Mailer could.
Praise for "Of a Fire on the Moon"
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"The gift of a genius . . . a twentieth-century American epic--a "Moby Dick "of space."--"New York"
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"Mailer's account of Apollo 11 stands as a stunning image of human energy and purposefulness. . . . It is an act of revelation--the only verbal deed to be worthy of the dream and the reality it celebrates."--"Saturday Review"
"A wild and dazzling book."--"The New York Times Book Review"
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"Still the most challenging and stimulating account of the] mission to appear in print."--"The Washington Post"
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Praise for Norman Mailer
" Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation."--"The New York Times"
"A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent."--"The New Yorker"
"Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure."--"The Washington Post"
"A devastatingly alive and original creative mind."--"Life"
"Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance."--"The New York Review of Books"
"The largest mind and imagination in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book."--"Chicago Tribune"
"Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream."--"The Cincinnati Post"