Norman Mailer: MoonFire: The Epic Journey of Apollo 11 [Hardcover]

This book is simply spectacular. It's astounding to me that Taschen issued it at $39.99...I've paid near twice that for far less impressive books. The quality of production is such that many illustrations seem almost three-dimensional. The only other book on the subject I can think of even approaching this aesthetic and reproductive quality is Michael Light's Full Moon.

As for the prose (and this is aside from the in-depth, informed captions accompanying every illustration), I will say first of all that I am not, generally speaking, a fan of Mailer as a writer. I've read several of his works besides Of a Fire on the Moon (from which this text is excerpted), and I tend to find his writing egotistical, self-indulgent, meandering, and freighted with all the stylistic and ideological baggage that characterized the New Journalism of his peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s (though it should be remembered that the same school also gave us The Right Stuff).

Thankfully, the text reprinted in Moonfire has been stripped of most of that baggage, which made Of a Fire on the Moon such a morass through which one had to wade to find insight. Instead, the text of Moonfire showcases Mailer's strengths: His undeniable prescience and powers of observation, and his gift for giving resonance to both the most minute details of his experience covering the flight of Apollo 11, and conveying the "epicness" of the whole endeavor. His account of the crew's press conference, and his impressions of their personalities, are so piercing that you feel you're right there watching and listening. And I would defy you to find another more powerful account in print of the experience of the launch of Apollo 11 than Mailer's. It is, as his narrative surrogate Aquarius might say, appropriate to its measure.

If you want a visually sumptuous, narratively compelling, and culturally significant print tribute to the triumph that was Apollo, buy Moonfire.

*A couple of notes: First, to be clear, my review refers to the mass-market hardcover issue of Moonfire, not the "big" limited edition or the boutique lunar meteorite production. Also, if you're considering purchasing this book, please note that the gaudy Taschen 30th Anniversary band shown on the Amazon page for Moonfire is not part of the dust jacket artwork, but a cardboard insert that comes off with the shrink wrap.

I have been a collector of American manned space memorabilia for over 25 years, mostly books from the period. This one, highlighting the Apollo 11 mission, is a magnificent work of art. Excellent accounts from Mailer, quotations from astronauts and engineers, and an abundance of rare photos as well as many of the classics. It is well worth the modest price. One note: the book is so massive you won't be able to read it just anywhere!

The book is a gem of photography I have not seen before and the writing is unique, I had not heard of Norman Mailer, I was only 6 when Apollo 11 blasted off and man landed on the moon. Interestingly there is a gorgeous double spread photograph of the 3 astronauts their wives and children one of whom is only 6, the same age I was. Somewhere in the book there is a photograph of the plaque that reads 'We came in peace for all mankind', what a beaughtifull non biased thing to say, and there is a small pendant that was left on the moon with the signatures of something like 200 world leaders. When we look at the worlds issues now where have we gone wrong? That book to me is more than just a book about Apollo 11, it is a book symbolizing spirit and cooperation, we need more of that now than ever.

Oh, bye the way, I agree with another reviewers comments that Amazon are simply tossing books loose into boxes, there slide around and get dogearred corners. Amazon ned to educate their packers to take more care and stop skimping on shrink wrap and bubble wrap, please protect our books when you ship them.

Joe.