posted 03-10-2021 08:00 AM               

Andrew Chaikin's 'A Man on the Moon' re-launched as Folio Society book set

When Andrew Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon" was first published in 1994, a quarter century had passed since the first astronauts walked on the lunar surface. Now, more than 25 years after its release, a new, deluxe version of the book is ready for the next generation of lunar explorers, space enthusiasts and anyone who wonders what it was like to journey from Earth to the moon.

Described as the definitive account of NASA's Apollo program by the astronauts themselves, Chaikin's "A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts" has been presented anew by The Folio Society as a two-volume, illustrated set featuring a new preface and nearly 200 photo curated by the author.

posted 03-13-2021 03:03 AM               

Frankly I am little disappointed with it. The size of the book is a little strange, a fraction taller and quite a bit wider than the original first edition. It feels like an unhappy compromise between a standard sized hardback book and a coffee table book.

The covers are likely to wear very easily and already show some wear after having taken the book out of the protective box a handful of times. They just aren't up to scratch for such an expensive book. It would have worked far better if the covers had simply not had the photos on them and instead had an artists engraving style image on them as is common for Folio Society books.

Internally though the story is different, the paper is beautiful quality, the typeface and layout are perfect and there are lots of iconic glossy images.

Is it worth £150 UK or over $200 US dollar? In my view definitely not. It's probably worth around £80 to £100. It's a book to pick up at one of the Folio Society sales.

I have attached some images to show it in comparison to the first edition, which the Folio edition is far superior too.

posted 03-13-2021 11:45 AM               

For US$225, I assumed this would be a coffee-table production.

posted 03-13-2021 12:36 PM               

With regards to the quality of the volumes, it arrived wrapped in wax paper, which made me think about putting on my cotton gloves before handling. But this is a book meant to be enjoyed, so I gave up on that and did not see any immediate downsides to doing so.

The layout of the volumes is fantastic and the photos are stunning. Not to say that Andy Chaikin didn't give care to the photos in the prior Time/Life edition, but it is clear he went above and beyond in this version for Folio. (He told me he spent six months working on the images alone, and it shows.)