Book Review: “Alan Bean Plus Four” by Tom Hanks (Four Stars)

Book Review: “Alan Bean Plus Four” by Tom Hanks (Four Stars)

“Travelling to the moon was way less complicated this year than it was back in 1969, as the four of us proved, not that anyone gives a whoop.”

Short story published in Oct 27, 2014 The New Yorker magazine. Just long enough to make his point; short enough to enjoy at a single sitting. Fun read.

“She is ever doubtful of my space-program bona fides. She says I’m always ‘Apollo 13 this’ and ‘Lunokhod that,’ and have begun to falsify details in order to sound like an expert, and she is right about that, too.”

Humorous apocryphal tale of Hanks and three friends circum-lunar space shot. Shades of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon and C. S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet.

“Yes, I told her, I had gone all the way to the moon and returned safely to the surly bonds of Earth. Just like Alan Bean. ‘Who?’ she said.”