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Summary: john glenn a memoir
Review: i know john and he is everything in a true american hero.an inspiration for all
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Summary: This could have been a lot better...
Review: I really didn't know what to make of this book. I mean, one could argue that John Glenn has done some of the most exciting things that a person who lived in the past 100 years could do: He fought in two wars as a fighter pilot during the golden age of aviation and at the dawn of the jet age, he was the first american to orbit the earth, and he flew in space at the age of 77, in addition to being a multi-term senator from Ohio! But despite all of this his book was so dull I could not believe it! Somehow even his descriptions of combat were dull! I honestly did not know what to make of it all. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for him to get to the meat of the book and to inflect the writing with some verve... but it just never happened. As a die-hard space and aviation enthusiast, i would only reccommend this book to those interested in hearing some hithero undocumented anecdotes abot the Mercury program.
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Summary: Failed Attempt
Review: In the end this book is a failed attempt by a man to justify a view of himself as a great patriot. He is quilty, and he knows it, of defending the worst President in american history, i.e., William Jefferson Clinton. This is an attempt to try to separate himself from Clinton by trying to make himself a hero. If he had the "Right Stuff" he would have protected this country from further damage and "Betrayel" of this country by Clinton. Glenn fails in his attempt to separate himself from Clinton...Glenn will go down in history as one of Clinton's most important defenders. Glenn does not have the "Right Stuff"....He has the "Cowardly Stuff" of a politician.
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Summary: A Life That's Out of This World
Review: Is it possible to write a 422-page autobiography and not say a single bad word about anyone? Not one? Well John Glenn did it, which has to be another first for the United States' most celebrated spaceman. Yea, he does moan just a little about minor irritations like dirty politics, or the fact that we didn't use all of our military power to kick some North Vietnamese butt in the late 60s. But you have a better chance finding a pink elephant orbiting the earth than you will finding a shred of criticism about anyone in John Glenn: A Memoir. It's totally fitting for a man who has led a life that captures the all the images of Mom, apple pie and the Stars and Stripes. A boy is born in idyllic American town, New Concord, Ohio. He meets the love of his life, Annie, in the playpen. He goes off to fight the Good War as a fighter pilot. Then, he's a jet fighter pilot in the Korean War, dodging flak, shooting down Migs and earning five or six Distinguished Flying Crosses along the way. Then, he's selected as one of the first astronauts, and he becomes the first American to orbit the earth. He becomes an American hero, and his best chums are from the Kennedy clan. He serves as a United States Senator, and flies into space again at the age of seventy-seven. Jee-zow--e-e-e! I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! But I would be petty and envious to deny that this fine man has led a wonderful life. John Glenn's adventures are well told (in partnership with Nick Taylor) in this All-American autobiography.
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Summary: One of the Memoir/Bio Generation 1999
Review: It is curious that as 2000 nears, so many memoir biographies have hit the stands...and so many worth reading. We have Glenn's story...astronaut turned politician, model American; Nabokov's story...scientist turned literary celebrity (Nabokov's Blues); Goodall's story...scientist turned reflective (Reason to Hope); Sagan...by Sagan AND by biographers. Glenn's memoir fits this mold...a man has taken time out not only to reflect but to share with his "fellow Americans" his insights on the last decades, indeed some of the most important events of the millenium. I recommend this book; its only drawback is it might be argued as less exciting than some of the others mentioned above. But John Glenn is a major public and historical figure and it is worth the time to digest here what he has to say about his life, and times.
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Summary: Delightful biography, but short on space hardware
Review: John Glenn became the first American in orbit when he circled the Earth three times aboard Friendship 7. The most senior of the original Mercury astronauts, he was trumpeted as a hero upon return, but left the space program shortly thereafter because NASA wouldn't give their famous spokesman a second, potentially disastrous flight. Not until almost thirty years later, that is, when Senator Glenn returned to space at the age of 77, amidst a roar of publicity that rivalled his first mission. In the meantime, he had embarked upon a political career that included a shot at the presidency. A rather distinct biography. In "John Glenn: A Memoir", the Marine turned Astronaut turned Politician shares with the world his life story, which spans the better part of a century and saw aviation progress from biplanes to the Space Shuttle. Yet this is a deliberate and slow-moving book, written in earnest and matter-of-fact prose. It progresses in strictly chronological order, spends a great amount of nostalgic detail on Glenn's childhood - including mother's cooking and playpen stories -, then moves on to the Marine days flying planes in World War II and Korea, then to his test pilot career. Always one step at a time, one little story after the other. The results are a mixed bag: while the drama-oriented readers will call it outright dull, others might find the leisurely pace quite immersive and captivating. At the least, it is refreshing to read an astronaut biography that does not suffer from tunnel vision. The space program is not as much as mentioned until about half-time, and even recounting his NASA days, Glenn focuses on the big picture - the political and ideological implications of the space race - rather than technical detail. While the accounts of his actual Mercury and Shuttle flights are vivid and gripping, on the whole there is nothing about the space program that could not be found in most other, specialised books. Not surprising, given that Glenn's astronaut career was illustrious but brief, and something that the die-hard space buffs should consider. The part between Glenn's flights focuses on his political career, his friendship with the Kennedys, and law making as an Ohio Senator. There is more talk about his loved wife and family, and more emphasis on duty, country, values. In truth, it must be said that the only things arguably more all-American than John Glenn are baseball and apple pie; he constantly reflects on his beliefs and guidelines, and never seems to waver in his uncomplicated optimism and patriotism. More remarkably, it all seems genuine, too: no image polishing, that's just the way he is. Indeed, Glenn colours his omnipresent love of America with plenty of humour and palpable feeling, and comes across not as preachy, but entirely likeable. The concept of such an awfully nice moralist seems strange in today's cynical times, and this is perhaps the most telling point of all: the text seems like a document from a different age. Like the photographs that come with it, showing Glenn's wedding ceremony in uniform, or piloting Corsairs in World War II, this tale is something out of our reach, something delightfully dated. And "John Glenn: A Memoir" sure is a delightful book. Readers looking for a remarkably rich and varied life story can hardly make a better choice. Space enthusiasts lusting for nuts and bolts might want to think twice.
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Summary: Fireflies in space
Review: John Glenn is a space pioneer and knows first hand that there is a "lot more water than land on earth". You feel his honesty in his writing, his no-nonsense approach to every day of his life. And then at age 70 he goes out into space again. Flying "Friendship 7" around in space is the climax of his life for this "down-to-earth" man. The forceful fist of destiny came down on Glenn in the form of his image, the mirror, which knocked him out of politics; he thought he dropped out, but he was dropped out until after Watergate when the Senate calls him. Up to date nobody seems to know: what were the "fireflies" in the night of space surrounding "Friendship". There is this mystery in the otherwise "nuts-and-bolts" story of John Glenn.
Rating:
Summary: Fireflies in space
Review: John Glenn is a space pioneer and knows first hand that there is a "lot more water than land on earth". You feel his honesty in his writing, his no-nonsense approach to every day of his life. And then at age 70 he goes out into space again. Flying "Friendship 7" around in space is the climax of his life for this "down-to-earth" man. The forceful fist of destiny came down on Glenn in the form of his image, the mirror, which knocked him out of politics; he thought he dropped out, but he was dropped out until after Watergate when the Senate calls him. Up to date nobody seems to know: what were the "fireflies" in the night of space surrounding "Friendship". There is this mystery in the otherwise "nuts-and-bolts" story of John Glenn.
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Summary: A great life story
Review: John Glenn seems driven by an inner unquestioning certainty about integrity, patriotism, and devotion...to his wife and to his country. This man's degree of convinction to adhere to such decent values, seems so foreign to us in the context of today's social and political environment...from the loss of patriotism and devotion to causes bigger than ourselves, from our openly dishonest leaders to our even more tragic tolerance of them, from our younger generations' loss of respect for life and their elders to their cynicism about life, born out from the 1960's self-absorption and anti-establishment paranoia. As we follow John Glenn's amazing, almost fictionally sensational life, we discover how his beliefs, decency, devotion, belief in self, inner drive to expand his horizons, and incredible focus carried to him to places that most others or even his younger self, could never dream of...from his small hometown in Ohio, to flying missions over Pacific Islands in World War II, to missions in Korea, to a small hunk of metal in orbit, to ticker tape parades, speaking to a joint session of Congress, and later returning as a Senator, running for President, and finally returning to space again in the Shuttle. This book illustrates that John Glenn was not defined by a few hours in space in 1962 or a few days in space in 1998, but by his beliefs and by his continual optimism and foreward-looking perspective. In reading this book, you also will see that the true vehicle which brought him to space was not a space capsule, but his heart.
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Summary: Learn more about one of America's heroes
Review: John Glenn was always the Boy Scout of the astronauts, though interestingly he was never an actual Boy Scout. As we find here, his town didn't have a Boy Scout troupe, though a bunch of his friends and he formed their own, similar organization. This is a full autobiography, going from childhood up until now. Glenn really did have a straightforward life, growing up in a town straight out of Norman Rockwell, marrying his childhood sweetheart, flying planes in World War II, becoming a test pilot and then a Mercury astronaut. He covers all of this in detail and goes on to his political career. Nothing is breathtakingly exciting (except perhaps some of the World War II bits and his Mercury flight), but it remains interesting nonetheless, told in Glenn's straightforward, matter-of-fact voice. He covers his political career, and I think it's characteristic that Glenn is more pleased with some of the subtle changes he managed to make to make government procurement less wasteful than any more headline-grabbing activities. He had the misfortune to run for president as a dull man in an era where spectacle and celebrity are everything. Toward the end, he covers his return to space on the space shuttle. I think this was a pure publicity stunt on behalf of NASA (if not, then why was experienced astronaut Story Musgrave grounded on account of age?). Glenn, of course, doesn't see it that way. Certainly it wasn't a useful activity, and he provides some support for it. So, read this not for any grand revelations but to learn more about one of America's heroes. We have too few of them.
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