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The $1,000 Coffee Table Book
Norman Mailer, Moonfire. By Norman Mailer. Taschen. 350 pages. $1,000.
On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Taschen is releasing an art book whose ambition is worthy of the original event itself. VIEW OUR GALLERY.
How do you write about the biggest news event of the century?
When Life magazine set out to cover the Apollo 11 moon shot, it knew it would need a writer with a planetary-size personality. Norman Mailer was the obvious choice. His series of articles on the event became a book, Of a Fire on the Moon, released in 1970. And now, on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, illustrated book publisher Taschen is releasing Norman Mailer, Moonfire, a massive 350-page hardcover art book, retailing for the luxe sum of $1,000.
If the price is steep, what it offers is nothing short of a family heirloom in the making. Moonfire is a gloriously imposing tome, large enough to require a degree of exertion just to flip it over. Inside, in addition to a reproduction of Mailer’s book, are scans of his original manuscript, and photographs that, decades after that Space Age began to feel dated, still boggle the mind. Taschen will print only 1,969 copies of the book—each will be signed by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and the final 12 will contain a chip of extremely rare moon meteorite. As a package, the project is an achievement worthy of the subject it celebrates.
Click Image Below to View Pages from the Book
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i was there at the cape in '69 watching the lift off with all the other thousands of people. we got there the night before driving up from miami - it was such a party.
the next day, we were on the opposite side of the canal inlet, next to the atlantic, from where apollo 11 stood in the distance. we could see it darn well, but we had no idea that once apollo 11 was groaning skyward, we'd feel the lift off under our feet - like an earthquake!
once it lifted out of sight, the rockets had left a peculiar cloud formation - in the shape of a question mark, which i felt was somewhat appropriate since we had no idea if they'd make it all the way to the moon, or indeed, make it at all. i snapped a photo of it. still have all my photos from that day, taken with a little kodak camera.
not sure if anyone remembers, but once neil armstrong stepped out of the lim (sorry if that's not spelled right) the entire picture was upside down for quite a long few minutes.
our family was sitting around a 19" black and white portable tv in our living room, fiddling with the antenna, trying to get the sharpest picture from cbs/cronkite.
when armstrong uttered those famous words...one small step...a portion of the phrase was muffled a bit by electronic noise. through the years, the sound has been cleaned up - but back then, we all said "huh?" "what did he say?" "will you please be quiet! i can't hear what the man is saying!"
ah, family. 40 years. i can hardly believe it.
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