Book Review- Lily Koppel's The Astronaut Wives Club

Admittedly, I have very little interest in anything regarding space travel. I tend to shy away from space-themed movies and my trip to Cape Canaveral in the early 90's remains one of my most dull childhood vacation memories. I love anything to do with travel and exploration, unless it happens to occur in space.

Lily Koppel's non-fiction book, The Astronauts Wives Club, is a look at the wives of first men in NASA. Although Koppel provides a detailed look at the space program, this is really a story grounded on planet earth. It is about families attempting to balance living under the constant duress from the risks associated with space exploration, while trying to maintain perfect appearances for the public.

There are many elements of The Astronauts Wives Club that I enjoyed. Much of the book takes place in the 1950's/60's and it has a Mad Men appeal to it. Prior to their husbands being picked by NASA, most of the families were scrapping by on a military salary. NASA made them part of a very elite group and as the country was fascinated by the "Space Race", the new NASA families found themselves in the spotlight. The spotlight wasn't limited to interviews, but also included lucrative give-aways like cars, houses and vacations. The women found themselves not only with more money to spend on their appearance, but also with the need to constantly work on their image. It was entertaining to read about their wardrobes and various styles.

This is also very much a story about female bonding. The NASA wives formed a tight bond through their shared experience. What they were going through was so unique, that even though they were a very mixed bunch of women, it brought them close together. There is so much tension and heartbreak with what these women had to endure behind the scenes, that it often made for an emotional read. in particular, some the photographs at the end of the book are emotionally riveting.

The Astronauts Wives Club offers a glimpse into what American life was like during the early years of NASA. The families involved in the space program were all picked not just for the husbands skills, but also for their qualities that made them seem like the perfect "All American Family". There was a constant stress to maintain their image, even when marriages were falling apart. The image had a higher value than the reality. Perfectionism was an American ideal.

The way Koppel arranged the book was at times confusing. There are so many women and families, that it is easy to become bogged down with trying to keep them all straight. It gets worse as the book progresses. I think that I would have enjoyed the book more, if she had left out some of the women or maybe arranged the book as a chapter for each wife/family. There was far too much jumping around with so many people.

The book was further bogged down by irrelevant facts. Some of the stories or details about the women didn't seem as important as others. It felt like Koppel did her interviews and had such an abundance of information that she went ahead and included everything. The book could have done with tighter editing to keep the pace flowing. Again, this gets worse towards the end of the book, when there are just too many people to follow and it feels like the general tone becomes repetitive.

Overall, I enjoyed The Astronauts Wives Club. It is the story of so many brave and adventurous families that were an important part of American History.

Book Review- Jonathan Tropper's One Last Thing Before I Go

I had never heard of author Jonathan Tropper prior to reading a positive review of his latest novel, One Last Thing Before I Go, in a magazine. I love when good reviews lead me to make a new-to-me author discovery. It was even better news to love the book and then notice that this is Tropper's fifth novel. If his other novel are even a fraction as good as this one, then I have a lot to look forward to.

One Last Thing Before I Go is centered around Silver, a middle-aged divorced man, who once rose to minor fame as a drummer in a one-hit-wonder band. His glory days are now long in the past and he has screwed up his marriage, his relationship with his teenage daughter and he is broke, living in a hotel populated by sad men in similar situations.

Silver's depressing life is about to be rocked in several ways. His ex-wife, Denise, is about to remarry, his daughter, Casey, has just informed him that she is pregnant and Silver has been diagnosed with a life-threatning medical condition that requires a surgery that he won't consent to have.

The best thing about Tropper's novel are the characters. I guarantee that everyone has a Silver in their life. Silver is a guy who is not a bad person, but who is a perpetual screw-up. He has screwed-up for so long that he doesn't even know how to make things right and he has given-up.

He is so down on himself that even though he has a loving family, he thinks that they would be better off without him. On the other hand, he is not actively suicidal. He is a wafter. He is stubborn about refusing to have a potentially life saving surgery, yet terrified that he might die on the operating table. It's this behavior that his family finds utterly maddening and heartbreaking. They desperately want him to step up to the plate.

I found Denise to be a particularly sympathetic character. She's flawed, confused and ultimately makes some really horrible choices. She still holds out hope that her ex-husband will change and years later, she is still in mourning over the demise of their marriage. However, Denise also recognizes that she found a solid partner in her fiancé and a man who has stepped up to the plate in a way that Silver never could. Adding another sad layer to the story, Silver also recognizes that Denise's fiancé is a better man than he is able to be and begrudgingly accepts the change.

As a form of intervention, Silver's father, Ruben, makes a deal with Silver. Ruben is a Rabi and he asks Silver to attend one each of a major life event in which he is presiding. Silver must attend a funeral, a bris, a bar mitzvah and a wedding. Ruben hopes that the events might stir Silver's emotions and get him out of his funk.

Tropper's story is filled with sad, lonely and isolated characters. Oddly though, Tropper's novel isn't depressing. It's surprisingly funny and irreverent. It's also hopeful in a way when you realize that the characters are products of their own choices or ways of thinking. None of them actually have horrible lives and their depression is of their own doing. They have dug their own holes, yet they are also capable of climbing out of them.

One Last Thing Before I Go has a compelling plot and memorable characters. I look forward to reading more novels by Tropper and I'm confident that I will soon count him among my favorite contemporary authors.

Book Review- Hog Wild's Baby, You're as Sweet as 3.14159265

I was contacted by author, Hog Wild, through Goodreads to write an honest review of his book in exchange for a free copy. I love when authors contact me for reviews. I feel like it's a big leap of faith on their part to trust a stranger, who didn't seek out their book, to write a review. It takes guts and confidence. Here we go...

Wild's book, Baby, You're as Sweet as 3.14159265, is primarily a collection of the author's advice column questions.

I'm definitely not Wild's target audience. The humor and themes in this book would probably be most appealing for males in their late teens to early twenties. I'm not the slightest bit prudish, but the humor in this book is often very brash and crude. The humor was like an American Pie movie on speed.

Wild is a comedian and I often felt like the humor in the book might have translated better in a stand-up show, than it does in a book. He's probably really funny in person, not so much as a writer. The book was filled with comedian "bits" that ran too long.

The biggest issue that I had with Wild's book was the format. It needed to have been broken down by themes. The book consists of a love and sex questions sent in by Wild's fans and Wild's responses, occasionally peppered with his personal stories. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to how the questions are placed in the book. It would have had a better flow, is the questions had been grouped in related topics and if Wild had added more personal stories to tie it together.

I found a lot of Wild's advice to be solid and often found myself agreeing with him. If he made it less crass (and silly) and gave the book a stronger format, I would have given this book a better review. Unfortunately, Wild's book read like a first draft and it lost me as a reader.