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Challenger Park: A Novel Audiobook
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(2.92) - 85 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
From the author of the acclaimed and best-selling The Gates of the Alamo, a novel of extraordinary power about what it’s like, and what it means, to journey into space as one of today’s astronauts. At the novel’s center: Lucy Kincheloe, an astronaut married to an astronaut, the loving mother of two young children, with a fierce ambition to excel in the space program. Her husband, Brian, a rigorous man whose dreams of glory have been blighted by two star-crossed missions. Walt Womack, the steady, unflappable leader of the training team that prepares Lucy for her first shuttle flight. Lucy has devoted years of intense and focused effort to win her place on a mission, but as her lifelong dream of flying in space comes true, her familiar world appears to be falling apart around her. Her marriage is deteriorating. Her son’s asthma is growing more serious. Her relationship with Walt Womack is becoming dangerously intimate. And when at last she is in space, 240 miles above the earth, and an accident renders the world she left behind appallingly distant—perhaps unreachable—her spirit is tested in gripping and unexpected ways. In The Gates of the Alamo, Stephen Harrigan’s narrative authority brought a vanished nineteenth-century Texas to vibrant life. In Challenger Park, he does the same with the world of space flight, bringing us up close to the lives—the risks, the friendships, the rituals, the training—of the astronauts and the people who work with them. Harrigan has written an exciting—indeed a thrilling—novel about the contrary pulls of home and adventure, reality and dreams, and the unimaginable experience, the joys and terrors and revelations, of space flight itself.
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"I loved this book on many levels: the NASA insider info, the portrait of a mediocre marriage, the daily drama of life as a mom. Throw in a trip to outer space, and there's not much more you can ask for. "
— Lori (4 out of 5 stars)
Challenger Park Listener Reviews
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" i don't know. this is another unlikely audio book the austin public library has bestowed upon me. so far, i don't hate it, and harrigan is at least writing well about children. "
— Jack, 11/26/2013 -
" I enjoyed reading about the space center, the training and the missions. I also really enjoyed reading about the places that were mentioned in the book. I wasn't that drawn to the characters, but I'm glad I read the book. It was really fun. "
— Sandy, 9/6/2013 -
" I strongly disliked this boring, whiny, too long novel about man-woman relationships, children, marital conflicts and a weak priest of all things. I thought this story extremely annoying. I couldn't wait to finish this just to be done with it...and it exceeded with a mighty disappointing finish. "
— Tim, 8/15/2013 -
" The actual space stuff/experiences was very interesting but way to little of the book! The rest was soooooo whiny! "
— Julie, 7/12/2012 -
" More of a love story than a space buff book. However, feel a little bit eerie after learned the Lisa Nowak incident. "
— Tao, 6/26/2011 -
" Interesting description of the space program, but the characters left me a bit annoyed - I wanted more depth than I found. "
— Kris, 1/14/2011 -
" This story was slow to build for me, but I really liked the look into the day-to-day lives of astronauts. "
— Diana, 10/19/2010 -
" I enjoyed reading about the space center, the training and the missions. I also really enjoyed reading about the places that were mentioned in the book. I wasn't that drawn to the characters, but I'm glad I read the book. It was really fun. "
— Sandy, 3/28/2010 -
" Interesting description of the space program, but the characters left me a bit annoyed - I wanted more depth than I found. "
— SparklyShiny, 9/1/2009 -
" The actual space stuff/experiences was very interesting but way to little of the book! The rest was soooooo whiny! "
— Julie, 3/16/2009 -
" More of a love story than a space buff book. However, feel a little bit eerie after learned the Lisa Nowak incident. "
— Tao, 12/17/2007 -
" i don't know. this is another unlikely audio book the austin public library has bestowed upon me. so far, i don't hate it, and harrigan is at least writing well about children. "
— Jack, 12/10/2007
About Stephen Harrigan
Stephen Harrigan, a longtime writer for Texas Monthly and many other magazines, is the author of the novels Aransas and Jacob’s Well. His other books include Water and Light: A Diver’s Journey to a Coral Reef and the essay collections A Natural State and Comanche Midnight. He lives in Austin, Texas.
About Robertson Dean
Robertson Dean has played leading roles on and off Broadway and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a BA from Tufts University and an MFA from Yale. His audiobook narration has garnered ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works in film and television in addition to narrating.