Some fifty years ago, while a cub reporter, Jay Barbree caught space fever the night that Sputnik passed over Georgia. He moved to the then-sleepy village of Cocoa Beach, Florida, right outside Cape Canaveral, and began reporting on rockets that fizzled as often as they soared. In "Live from Cape Canaveral," Barbree—the only reporter who has covered every mission flown by astronauts—offers his unique perspective on the space program. He shares affectionate portraits of astronauts as well as some of his fellow journalists and tells some very funny behind-the-scenes stories—many involving astronaut pranks. Barbree also shows how much the space program and its press coverage have changed over time. Warm and perceptive, he reminds us just how thrilling the great moments of the space race were and why America fell in love with its heroic, sometimes largerthanlife astronauts.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 18 reviews)

Extremely Disappointing Book

This is an extremely disappointing book, that should have delivered so much more, especially from such a well-credentialled author. I have read practically every biography and book published on this period of the US space program, and I rate this book (very) near the bottom of this very long list.

You would expect the author to have offered a new slant on a (by now) very well reported space program. Not so; the book offers litle that is new and captivating. It was disappointing to see the book full of material that is better covered elsewhere; for instance, in-flight transcripts between the Mercury astronauts and Mission Control.

I was expected (not unreasonably) a behind-the-scenes account of the early days of the space program, the author's interaction with the astronauts, the friendships formed, the trials and tribulations of reporting in those "early days".

Yet it either doesn't cover threse topics (which creates doubt - possibly unfairly - as to how close the author actually was to the action and to the main players - despite claiming many as life long friends), or it rushes through them. For instance, the author's role in covering three moon landings is covered in 1 page!

The book ends up being a very hurried dash through the history of the space program, without enough reference to Barbree's role in it.

The book also has a number of unecessarily sycophantic references to other members of the NBC team of reporters, without giving any meaningful, or new, information about Barbree's role in covering any of these missions.

There are interesting parts of the book. It begins being captivating when Barbree discusses the abandoned Journalist-in-Space program in the mid-1980s, but that story soon drifts off course as well.

All up, a very, very disppointing book; one that is quite misleading given its title. I wish I had not wasted the money, or frankly, my time in reading something so underdone. You'd get more out of reading Collins' "Carrying the Fire" for a 20th time, or Mullane's "Riding Rockets" for a 5th time.
January 13, 2008

More qualified than NASA

Released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, Barbree takes us through his illustrious career as the only journalist to have covered every manned American space launch, including breaking the story of the mechanical failure that led to the 1986 Challenger disaster. Barbree is probably more qualified to tell the story of US space exploration than NASA itself. This book is inherently cool because space is inherently cool.
January 11, 2008

Great starter book for the curious-minded, but that's all

This is a very good book for the person who wants to read about the history of the American space program and probably not read another book on that subject. The serious student won't find much new but the generalist and non-fan will gain a basic appreciation. It is a valuable contribution since it is written by one of the leading space journalists, Barbree, who started covering our space program from the very beginning. The stories in it are amusing and interesting.
January 06, 2008

On the surface, exciting, enjoyable - but very misleading

This book initially appears to be a fun, enjoyable, exciting read - a romp through the golden age of spaceflight. For those who believe the back cover blurb, they might never be the wiser.

However, it's all misleading surface gloss.

There are some fundamental problems with this book. For example:

- Barbree was not there for many of the conversations he pretends to remember verbatim

- One of the photos is a known fake

- Many of the crucial and easily-checked facts are incorrect.

So, if you read this book, file under "fiction." Or, for a far more reliable and satisfying read, read the excellent For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut

December 31, 2007

A Great book for America's Space Fans

Jay Barbree brings us a very entertaining book packed with interesting stories. It contains not only NASA's best days, but also it's worst mishaps with details never seen before. I have not seen anything else that compares to Jay's knowlege of the space program and those who make it possible. It had me giggling through many fun stories.
December 30, 2007

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