Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further True Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky

by Homer Hickam

From Homer Hickam, the author of the #1 bestselling Rocket Boys adapted into the beloved film October Sky , comes this astonishing memoir of high adventure, war, love, NASA, and his struggle for literary success.

Homer Hickam’s memoir Rocket Boys and the movie adaptation October Sky have become one of the most popular stories in the world, inspiring millions to pursue a better life. But what happened to Homer after he was a West Virginia rocket boy? In his latest memoir, Homer recounts his life in college where he built the world's biggest, baddest game cannon, fought through some of the worst battles in Vietnam, became a scuba instructor, discovered sunken U-boats, wrote the definitive account of a World War II naval battle, befriended Tom Clancy, made a desperate attempt to save the passengers of a sunken river boat, trained the first Japanese astronauts, taught David Letterman to scuba dive, helped to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, wrote his number one bestselling Rocket Boys , and was on set during the making of October Sky . Although told with humor and wit, Hickam does not shy away from the pain and hardship endured and the mistakes he made during the tumultuous decades since his life in the town he made famous—Coalwood, West Virginia.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography

416 pages, Hardcover

Published October 26, 2021

About the author

Homer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr.) is the author of many best-sellers including his latest, Don't Blow Yourself Up. An eclectic writer, he wrote the "Coalwood Series," which includes the # 1 New York Times best-selling memoir Rocket Boys, (made into the ever-popular movie October Sky) the World War II-era "Josh Thurlow" series, the juvenile sci-fi "Crater" series, the adult thriller The Dinosaur Hunter, the romantic Red Helmet, and many others. Among his many writing awards are the University of Alabama's Clarence Cason Award and the Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award plus an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Marshall University. For more information on Mr. Hickam and his books and cats and everything else, please go to http://www.homerhickam.com.

Reviews

[jamesd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful

I often wondered what sonny did after he left for college..with a style uniquely his own, sonny has let us know. I’ve read most books by Homer all excellent as is this book. Try to read slowly, I didn’t, drat! Now I looking forward to the next book. Thank you Sonny, well done.

[Randal White · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing life! I truly enjoyed reading this book.

[Kimberly Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first half of this book (up through his time in Vietnam), but the rest...while he had a pretty remarkable life, it started to get a little old. There was a LOT of name-dropping and experiences that were only included to show how great a person he is. Not a bad read at all, but I did roll my eyes several times.

[MaryLucille · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Many sections were very interesting and informative. I admire Homer Hickam. What a diverse and interesting life of an intelligent and enterprising man. Yet, other sections became bogged down with name dropping and details. I was disappointed that there was a bit too much self-aggrandizing. IMHO.

[Cindy Mull]

Loved the book! That Rocket Boy has lived a full life, and I'm so glad he put it in writing. I highly recommend it.

[Maria Rupert · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a let down after loving rocket boys. Although this author is very accomplished, he appears to be too egotistical for my liking. Not a big fan of memoirs for this reason, though this guy takes his back-patting to another level.

[Debbie Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to move forward as an author after writing the memoir “Rocket Boys.” That was one of my favorite books. I loved it. I have read some of the follow up books written by Homer Hickman, but I never enjoyed any of the books as much as “Rocket Boys.” His latest book, “Don’t Blow Yourself Up,” is about Sonny’s life covering the 40 years between leaving Coalwood, West Virginia, and the year 2000. He writes about all the twists and turns, his adventures, everything from college to Vietnam to Guanaja to NASA. Ironically, the book ends with the writing of the book “Rocket Boys” and the making of the movie “October Sky.” I enjoyed the first half of the book but found the parts of the book covering Vietnam and NASA a little much. Didn’t hold my interest as much. Ironically, reading about the writing of “Rocket Boys” and the movie that followed reminded me just how much I enjoyed that book....and I have now ordered the movie “October Sky.” Thanks, Sonny. Don’t blow yourself up.

[Zot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I teach Hickam's Rocket Boys/October Sky in my high school English classes, so I was curious to see what Hickam had to say about his life after graduating high school.

I was disappointed. The writing is fine. He's actually improved quiet a bit from his first memoir. But Hickam is the quintessential boomer which is where my disappointment lies. His mother applied to college for him. He skates through college unprepared. He joins the military almost on a whim. He manages to get through Vietnam with little risk to his life. He bounces here and there always landing on his feet, eventually winding up at NASA. He embodies the boomer trope of being born after WWII, taking advantage of one of the biggest economic expansions in history, coasts through life taking advantage of being a white man, and now is about to die before the ocean's rise and the Earth dies.

I know this sounds like I'm bashing boomers (and I am) but would it have killed him to make his good fortunes seem like the results hard work instead of just Forest Gumping it his entire life?

[Beth Withers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book says it all because there were many further adventures in Hickam's life. Not only did I learn more about the author whom I have admired for years, I learned more about so many things, like the Vietnam War, building a cannon, diving and exploring undersea wrecks and dealing with decompression issues, working for NASA and developing things that were somewhat over my head, Japan, and Russia, just to name a few. The vast number of experiences that Hickam had are so varied that a book had to be written about them! I am more impressed with the author than I was before.
This book is entertaining while being informative; the writing style is very readable with sprinklings of subtle humor thrown in that made me laugh out loud a few times. I also teared up a time or two also. A very good book to put as my first book read for 2022.

[Colin Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for those who loved the adventures of the original Rocket Boys. This is Hickam's fourth memoir, and discusses the 40 year span between leaving Coalwood and completing the movie version of Rocket Boys, entitled October Sky. Hickam lived an amazing life after leaving his home town: university engineering student, Vietnam War participant, world-class scuba diver, office systems specialist, NASA engineer, and world famous author. Some parts do drag - even I skipped through certain chapters on his diving and NASA experiences - but the memoir is cleanly and elegantly written as usual.

[W M Rhodenhiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memories of my father and grandfather

I love the feelings shared along with the humor and details. As the son of a father born in a coal camp on silk stocking row, I can imagine my grandfather who was orphaned at 12 and grew be in charge of keeping the railroad switches operating and the fans blowing in the mines. He did this in with a 6th grade education. My father earned a Phd.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an absolute fan of Hickam’s writing and life story I thoroughly enjoyed his continuing memoir picking up after his “Rocket Boy” days as he leaves Coalwood for college, serves in Vietnam, becomes a skilled scuba diver and researcher of sunken U-Boats of the US east coast, works for NASA all the while honing his writing skills in published magazine articles and books. He has lived a fascinating life and is superb in bringing that life alive to his readers.

[Sara Gerot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This didn't have the same narrative thread that the first good had (Rocket Boys) but I really enjoyed this. Full of a lot of good storytelling. It was interesting to read about all the things that publishers wanted to change about the Rocket Boys book. I'm very glad all of the sections about his town and his parents didn't get left out as those were the most compelling parts to me.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!! I loved reading an update to the trilogy Rocket Boys; it was almost as if this book should belong to the series as an extended version. It was so cool and interesting to read about all of his interesting journeys throughout life and all of his travels as well as all of the people he has met throughout. Definitely inspiring as he did it all!!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another delightful book by Homer Hickam about himself. It is just as fun and interesting as his first book about himself, Rocket Boys.

Mr. Hickam tells about his adventures in college, in the military, as an adventurer, as an employee of NASA, and as an author. The book is enhanced with pictures.

Just a good and fun read. Enjoyed so much.

[Regina Spiker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hank Hickam's memoir of his life after being a teen Rocket Boy - college, Vietnam, becoming a scuba instructor, working for NASA, Again, Homer tells all with his well-known humor but thrown in are the rough times during the war and of the sad telling of his strained relationships with his Mom and Dad over the years.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

People's stories are fascinating. The twists and turns of Homer Hickam's life are no exception. The movie October Sky leaves you with the impression that he went from building rockets in the late 1950s directly to NASA. The years between his Coalwood rocket experiments and landing at NASA are full of unexpected adventures that gave him the skills he needed to prepare astronauts for spaceflight.

[Barbara Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read

This book will let readers know the adventures
of Sonny to Homer . Good to the Virginia Tech canon has a little of WV. Could not put the book down. Sonny has lead an exciting life. Read and enjoy.

[Gabriel Reyes]

Homer is back with his magic

A great story teller sharing his love for life, adventure and thirst of beautiful places and people. Delicious reading. Thanks Mr. Hickam, will always be hearing you!

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

To hear Homer Hickam tell it, he's led an amazing life. This book covers the period of time after the Rocket Boys left Coalwood and Homer headed off to college, plus his years in the military and at NASA. Some pretty amazing stories, but he's still a good old boy from West Virginia!

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited about this book and not disappointed.!

I even purposely took my time to read it so I could enjoy it more.

One thing , I wish he had included maps or pictures but he did address that later on and you can go to his blog to see the places etc.

Keep on writing Homer!

[Rich Durkee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great followup to Rocket Boys although after reading both books, I'm a little tired of hearing Homer's story, as good as it is. An easy to read, entertaining book, especially for those who grew up during the early days of NASA. Eye-opening in many areas.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly an excellent continuation of Homer’s younger days memoir (Rocket Boys/October Sky).

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels like I’m having a conversation with Mr Hickam. It’s great!

[Tina Hackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed every book that I have read by Homer Hickam. Thank you for another winner.

[Bill Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book as much as I loved Rocket Boys, but after a very promising beginning it just didn’t hold my interest very well.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed the book but I think it bogged down about midway. I did enjoy the ending as he talked about Rocket Boys and Coalwood.

[Krmcnall · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a true story!