Far Side of the Moon

Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman and the Woman Who Gave Him Wings

By: Liisa Jorgensen

Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

“Perhaps the most human story to emerge from mankind’s greatest technological achievement.” (Capt. Phil “Rowdy” Yates (USN ret.))

Far Side of the Moon is the untold, fully authorized story of the lives of Frank and Susan Borman. One was a famous astronaut - an instrumental part of the Apollo space program - but the other was just as much a warrior. This real-life love story is far from a fairy tale.

Life as a military wife was beyond demanding, but Susan always rose to the occasion. When Frank joined NASA and was selected to command the first mission to orbit the moon, Susan’s well-hidden depression and alcoholism finally came to light. Frank had to come to terms with how his “mission above all else” mentality contributed to his wife’s suffering. As Susan healed, she was able to begin helping others who suffered in silence from mental illness and addiction.

Discover how Frank and Susan’s love and commitment to each other is still overcoming life’s challenges, even beyond their years as an Apollo commander and the founder of the Astronaut Wives Club.

©2022 by Myth Merchant Films Inc. (P)2021 by Blackstone Publishing

Epic American Love Story

The five-star reviews of this book don’t do the writer or the narrative justice. This is an exceptionally well constructed story and a book for everyone told superbly by the narrator. This is much more than a sweeping nonfiction love story. It’s a narrative time machine that places the listener in the middle of the lives of a seemingly ordinary American couple who helped define the country and the culture during an extraordinary time in American history. It reminds us what it really means to love and be human and the values that make America exceptional. Regardless of your age, gender or generation do yourself and a someone you love a favor and have a listen.

Interesting NEW perspectives in this book

I've read quite a bit about Apollo 8, but appreciated the story being told from a different perspective.

The reading was a little dramatic at times, and I was not a fan of the impressions to make it sound like different people. I prefer the author reads their own work, although I get the author a great review on this book.

The Harlequin Romance version of the space program

I read a lot of space books and this is by far the worst I've ever read. Totally superficial on anything Frank Borman actually did but replete with annoying made-up conversations between a whole host of people and incessant hand-wringing about Susan Borman's fears. There is no doubt that both Frank and Susan Borman are true heroes of the space program but this book never steps beyond the thinnest of caricatures of a military pilot and his dutiful oppressed wife.

Add to that a narrator who repeatedly mispronounces astronaut names and muffs the names of rocket stages ("Saturn Eye Bee", really?, and pronounced differently each time she encounters them). There are lots of much better books about the space program, and especially the Bormans, than this one.