Paul Hoffman was president of Encyclopedia Britannica and editor-in-chief of Discover. and is the author of The Man Who Loved Only Numbers and The Wings of Madness. He is the winner of the first National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, and his work has appeared in the New Yorker, Time, and Atlantic Monthly. He lives in Woodstock, NY.
In what is indeed an "unorthodox history," independent scholar Singer reminds us that through the ages humankind's dream of flight has been fed by numerous motivating obsessions-spirituality, freedom, greed, altruism, play, romance, escapism, accomplishment, dominion, and science and technology-that ultimately coalesced and enabled humans to fly. She covers such topics as mythology, the design of flying machines like balloons, gliders, and kites, and the advent of the Wright brothers but eventually concludes, "It is only later that we look back and see an `invisible hand' fashioning all the elements into the eventual achievement of human flight." Despite the inclusion of a time line, Singer's nonlinear approach is challenging. (Richard Hallion's superb Taking Flight offers a more straightforward approach to the same subject matter.) Doubtless Singer would have had a field day divining the motivations of Santos-Dumont (1873-1932), the subject of this enthralling biography by Hoffman (a former president of Encyclopaedia Britannica). In comparing Santos-Dumont's life to his greatest contemporary rivals, the Wright brothers, the author pinpoints through juxtaposition the salient aspects of the Brazilian's career, buried within a rich historical context: Santos, who sought both notoriety and public approbation, was accepted by the fin-de-siecle aeronautical world because of his wealth and social standing; he had his airships built for him and used his dirigibles as personal runabouts in Paris; he did not believe in patents; and he was credited with flying the first powered aircraft in Europe. Like the Wright brothers, Santos was self-educated, showed little interest in women, and suffered terribly from inaccurate press reporting. Hoffman's fast-paced writing style carries the reader along on a wonderful journey from Santos's childhood on a Brazilian coffee plantation to his suicide at the beach resort of Guaraj . Throughout, he maintains a subtle balance between Santos's extraordinary lifestyle and his real achievements. Singer's Like Sex With Gods is recommended for aviation collections and large libraries; Hoffman's Wings of Madness is highly recommended for all libraries.-John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Athens Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
This thoroughly entertaining history of one of the currently overlooked heroes from early-20th-century aviation equals that of Hoffman's earlier volume, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers. Almost unknown today except in his native Brazil (where he is a revered figure), Alberto Santos-Dumont was known throughout the world as "a maverick among contemporary aeronauts." Obsessed with the idea of flight from an early age, Santos-Dumont (1873-1932) was an eccentric genius whose inherited wealth allowed him to live in luxury in fin-de-siecle Paris, at first working on ballooning. After designing small, cigar-shaped, engine-powered vehicles, which he used for everything from traveling around Paris to circling the Eiffel Tower, he soon became one of the best-known men in the city. Later he built "the world's first sports plane." Hoffman expertly recaptures from the historical dustbin the many facets of this unique character who befriended the Rothschilds and Cartiers, ran in the same crowd as Marcel Proust and devoted his life to a singular passion unmatched even by the obsessive Wright Brothers during the early days of aviation, "a time when the vast majority of Europeans and Americans had not yet traveled along the ground in an automobile." (June) Forecast: This year is the 100th anniversary of flight, and this solid narrative should stand out among the many books being published on the Wright Brothers. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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