Aurora 7
Astronaut Scott Carpenter's triple orbit around the earth on May 24, 1962, is the launching point for this audacious novel. Its hero, fifth-grader Gregory Noonan, obsessed with outer space, plays hooky and hops a train to New York City's Grand Central Station to join crowds awaiting news of the astronaut, who loses radio contact with Cape Canaveral during his perilous reentry. Other characters in star-struck Gregory's orbit are his anxious, squarish parents; his nerdy best friend; and his Irish grandmother. Using an omniscient narrative voice, novelist Mallon ( Arts and Sciences ) interweaves other lives--those of a highly sexed young priest, a snooty writer who's just dumped her husband, a Puerto Rican high school dropout desperately seeking a job, a New York cabbie, etc.--to show what effect Carpenter's historic flight has--or does not have--on each personal trajectory. Period detail is enhanced by walk-ons by JFK, Walter Cronkite, LBJ. The cumulative effect is exhilarating. Mallon also wrote Stolen Words , a study of plagiarism.--Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Nonfiction, Science Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
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What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Fiction · Nonfiction · Science Fiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
Catalog signals suggest sexual material. These notes may not be complete; consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.
These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Balanced tone · Steady pace
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.
This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.
Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.
This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.
A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-1560-1142-6
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL6788142M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
Begin with its place in Fiction, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- What does the central character want, and what do they misunderstand about that desire?
- Which detail or relationship changes how you interpret the story?
- What feeling or question does the book leave with you after the plot moves on?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.
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Why it fits: shares Nonfiction and Fiction, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.