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Jetpack Dreams: One Man's Up and Down (But Mostly Down) Search for the Greatest Invention That Never Was
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Author
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Mac Montandon.
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Publisher
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DaCapo
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Format
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hardcover
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Product Dimensions
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9.3
x
6.3
x
1
inches
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ISBN
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9780306815287
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Pages/Publication Date
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261/2008
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Daedalus Item Code
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02296
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List Price:
$25.00
Sale Price:
$5.98
$3.98
You Save:
$21.02
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Description
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In this pop-socio-cultural history of a tantalizingly desirable yet utterly impractical invention, Mac Montandon chronicles the engineering, science, and maddening appeal of jetpacks, from the first flimsy, shoulder-mounted wings to Bill Suitor's 1984 Olympic flight; from a jetpack-related murder in Houston in the mid-1990s to the far-flung development labs of today. Montandon also explores Hollywood's fascination with the subject, visiting The Jetsons and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and iconic characters like Buck Rogers, James Bond, and Boba Fett. "Freelance writer Montandon, editor of Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader, documents his search for the ultimate jetpack; along the way he encounters an offbeat bunch of middle-aged men with the same obsession. Montandon explains, for readers who don't attend the venues where jetpack jockeys rake in thousands of dollars from viewers who want to see a few seconds of flight, that the sticking point with jetpack technology is that you can't pack enough concentrated hydrogen peroxide on your back to fly for very long. Most jetpacks today are built from the original 1950s plans for the first working model, although many men have spent countless hours in the garage trying to improve on it. Along the way, there has been one unsolved murder and a gruesome torture and extortion case associated with a fabled lost jetpack that has taken on Holy Grail status. This snappily written, often funny book should attract dreamers of both sexes and all ages."—Publishers Weekly
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