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Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich
dyselxic's review against another edition
3.0
A truly fascinating story that I'm rather surprised I hadn't heard of. I worry that this book might be a little overdramatized in the retelling of this story, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
bkeniston's review against another edition
3.0
This book is great fun for its behind-the-scenes glimpses into the lives of NASA interns at the Johnson Space Center. Less fun as the true crime thriller it sets itself up to be. Ben Mezrich, author of The Accidental Billionaires, presents the true story of Thad Roberts, an intern in NASA’s cooperative program who decides to get rich by selling some extra moon rocks to which he can gain access. The first section of the book describes Roberts’ time at the Space Center leading up to the heist. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the space shuttle flight simulator and the gigantic swimming pool NASA uses for underwater astronaut training. While some reviewers complain that the lead up to the crime itself takes too long, I found myself wishing the guy would change his mind.
The section dealing with the heist is strange, as Mezrich attempts to describe the action based on information from his interviews with Roberts and it becomes obvious that Roberts is unable or unwilling to be truthful about his version of events. I also didn’t buy the romantic angle of the story, that he was stealing the rocks for his girlfriend, “to give her the moon.”
During the final section, we are bombarded by silliness, up to and including the silly scene that provides the silly title of the book. I think we are supposed to see Roberts as some sort of tragic, modern Robin Hood. Instead, he comes across as an egotistical idiot who is hoping to cash in on any movie rights that might come his way as a result of his cooperation with the book. I think Sex on the Moon would have been better had Mezrich not bought into Roberts’ version of the story so wholeheartedly. No, take that a step further. It would have been better had Roberts not entered into it at all. Like Roberts himself, the book had great potential but self-destructed in the end.
The section dealing with the heist is strange, as Mezrich attempts to describe the action based on information from his interviews with Roberts and it becomes obvious that Roberts is unable or unwilling to be truthful about his version of events.
Spoiler
What ends up being described is some sort of psychotic break in which Roberts somehow tricks himself into stealing the wrong rocks. Two sets of rocks are candidates for the theft: one set that is somehow morally “okay” to steal because NASA considers them trash but that are impossible to access, and another set that is less morally okay to steal because they are associated with the work of one of Roberts’ mentors but are easier to access because they are kept in a less secure lab. Although Roberts carefully plans even minute details of the heist, Mezrich allows him to claim that he somehow believed he was stealing the “okay-to-steal” rocks right up until the time he was breaking into his mentor’s lab. I didn’t buy that for a second.During the final section, we are bombarded by silliness, up to and including the silly scene that provides the silly title of the book. I think we are supposed to see Roberts as some sort of tragic, modern Robin Hood. Instead, he comes across as an egotistical idiot who is hoping to cash in on any movie rights that might come his way as a result of his cooperation with the book. I think Sex on the Moon would have been better had Mezrich not bought into Roberts’ version of the story so wholeheartedly. No, take that a step further. It would have been better had Roberts not entered into it at all. Like Roberts himself, the book had great potential but self-destructed in the end.
phunter22's review against another edition
3.0
A little too movie-scriptish for me. There's no way this guy was as smart as he's made up to be while at the same time being completely oblivious to any sort of FBI involvement. Also, as another reviewer pointed out, I doubt that without Roberts' weekend excursions, these NASA co-ops would have been just a nerdy bunch of shut-ins who couldn't figure out how to go camping without Roberts' help.
livrad's review against another edition
2.0
Sex on the Moon is the story of Thad Roberts, a NASA intern who broke into a lab after hours and stole specimens from every single moon landing, plus a Mars rock that was proof of former life on the planet. He broke apart specimens and attempted to sell them to a European buyer, who thankfully contacted the FBI to stop the sale. And, in a particularly cringy moment, in between the heist and the bust, Roberts did manage to have sex while lying on top of the specimens, so that he could be the first man to "have sex on the moon."
This book would have been an entertaining magazine article, and I am glad to know more about the subject. However, it is definitely "creative nonfiction." There is so much padding in the writing of this book, that it seems clear that not everything mentioned actually happened and that a lot of imagining is going on. It is a *true-ish* story. Also, it is written in a very "Bro" tone that seems to downplay the crime committed by Roberts, especially the loss of 30 years of NASA research notes that accompanied the samples. The Bro tone was enhanced by the audiobook narration of Casey Affleck, who seems apathetic to the task.
This book would have been an entertaining magazine article, and I am glad to know more about the subject. However, it is definitely "creative nonfiction." There is so much padding in the writing of this book, that it seems clear that not everything mentioned actually happened and that a lot of imagining is going on. It is a *true-ish* story. Also, it is written in a very "Bro" tone that seems to downplay the crime committed by Roberts, especially the loss of 30 years of NASA research notes that accompanied the samples. The Bro tone was enhanced by the audiobook narration of Casey Affleck, who seems apathetic to the task.
aspirin's review against another edition
3.0
Very fun character study but definitely follows the Mezrich pattern of being overly sympathetic towards his subjects. Not objective at all but a fun time.
dlsmall's review against another edition
3.0
While I preferred both Bringing Down the House and The Accidental Billionaires, I did enjoy this book. Once again Mezrich looks at a geek subculture (following card-counting mathmeticians and cut-throat/rock-star computer programmers), this time, it is NASA interns stealing a 600 pound safe full of moon-rocks (no spoilers...this is from the prologue).
To me it is totally mind-blowing that the ringleader, Thad Roberts, thought that there was any way that he could ever, ever, ever get away with such an "audacious heist" (phrase stolen from the cover). I mean did he not forsee the full wrath and focus of the U.S. government coming down on pursuing the perpetrators of this theft? I mean, we are not bringing any more moon rocks back to Earth in the forseeable future, it's kind of a unique commodity, and source of national pride. But then again, it happened.
To me it is totally mind-blowing that the ringleader, Thad Roberts, thought that there was any way that he could ever, ever, ever get away with such an "audacious heist" (phrase stolen from the cover). I mean did he not forsee the full wrath and focus of the U.S. government coming down on pursuing the perpetrators of this theft? I mean, we are not bringing any more moon rocks back to Earth in the forseeable future, it's kind of a unique commodity, and source of national pride. But then again, it happened.
megwilli's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0