Entertainment For Lively Minds
Christmas book hunt - moon landings
I could probably answer this question by going back to the podcast in question: however, I can't remember precisely which one it was.
Sometime after the Olympics I remember sitting in the departure lounge at Newcastle Airport being mightily cheered up by a podcast in which a book was mentioned. This book, if I recall correctly, was one man's attempt to track down and interview all the people who'd set foot on the moon. At the time I thought "hey, that'll make a nice xmas pressie for the Mrs". Sadly, the only time I remember to go looking for it is when I'm at the same airport, and I'm hampered by the fairly crap Wh Smith's, plus the fact that I can't remember the title or author.
Could anyone put me out of my misery, now that I've succeeded in remembering about this while in front of a pc? I believe it was that nice Mr Hepworth that was talking about it.
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Moondust
Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth by Andrew Smith
Well worth a look.. Fascinating stuff..
I think Mr Hepworth was a little upset to find that his book came with a printed recommendation by Richard and Judy on the cover.. I know how he felt. There's nothing worse than finding a book you want to read only to discover that R&J or Oprah (or Tubridy if you live in Ireland) got there before you. Especially when you can't peel off the sticker with their big logo on it..
I guess others must like it though, right? Why else would they do it?
The book ain't all that.
It's like a Nick Broomfield documentary were the author keeps inserting himself into the story. "F- off and hide yourself from the reader as I don't care about you," is the sort of thing I felt about it.
If you want to know about the moon landings etc then I would recommend a BBC DVD called Space Race.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-Race-Bart-Sidles/dp/B000AWKSVO/ref=sr_1_1?...
Fair enough...
But wasn't that the whole point of his book? It wasn't purely about the astronauts - it was about his quest to meet them, to figure out why the landings resonated so strongly with his own memories of childhood. The entire book is a personal journey - it's not a regular history of the space race and doesn't pretend to be. And if that's what you're after, there are other choices, as you say.
For what it's worth…
… I have a very low threshold for such solipsism and expected to find the book rather annoying, but I loved it, and for me it ended up with a resonance that I suspect couldn't have been achieved by a purely objective exercise. So do give it a go, in a plain brown wrapper for use on the tube, if necessary.
ah yes, that was it
Many thanks - I'll go looking for it in a Real Bookshop and see how annoying the style is... maybe there's a new edition without the, surely much dated by now, R & J mark of shame.
Ta for the DVD hint too - I think I remember catching the series.
R&J
Perhaps the reason the book was first discussed was due to the higher profile R&J gave to the book, thereby preventing it from dissapearing from view like hundreds of other books? Why is it so bad that R&J promote a book? I'm sure the authors are very grateful for the extra promotion and the reader may read a book they might otherwise have ignored. Nothing wrong with that at all. Oprah's book club promoted 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. A wonderful book which has now found a wider audience than McCarthy had dreamt of. Some will dig deeper and read delights such as 'Blood Meridian'. What's not to like about that?
Nothing wrong with that
But you can't peel the sticker off.
Also now they get 8
viewers of Dave's Aunty or whatever channel they are on no one is buying books anymore.
Precisely
I've no problem with bad tv shows promoting good books and I understand that by putting the sticker on the front cover, more people will buy the book. But once the book is mine, I don't want anything to be on the front cover except the front cover.
I'm sure the poor fecker who designs these covers can't be thrilled about it either.
Here's the original discussion:
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/when-irresistible-snob-meets-immov...
Is this any use
to cover your shame....
Ooh, brilliant
We could start an underground movement, print off a wodge of these stickers and surreptitiously sneak into bookshops to stick them on copies of Moondust, Kill Your Friends and dvds of that american cop show whose name escapes me.
arf...
Banksy's got nothing on The Word Massive, has he...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm
Carrying The Fire
If you’re interested in the moon landings, may I recommend Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins (the command module pilot of Apollo 11, aka The Loneliest Man Since Adam). It's a wonderful book.