![]() ![]() ![]() The vast expanses of the lunar landscape, the velvet grayness of its thick layer of dust imprinted for the first time by the boots of the astronauts and the tires of the moon rover, are both unspeakably thrilling and terribly lonely. Part of the piercing beauty of these pictures comes from our understanding of how rare and precious they are, the only record we have, and perhaps the only one we'll ever have, of human beings standing on ground that is not of our own earth. Culled from 32,000 images taken by the astronauts of NASA's Apollo missions (with a few shots taken by Jim McDivitt of the Gemini IV spacewalk for good measure), they offer a composite account of humanity's venture into space and onto the surface of the moon. ![]() Words aren't really necessary to the story told by the 129 photographs Michael Light has assembled in this moving volume, a compact (and more affordable) version of a book that was first published in 1999. If you're looking for a good novel or work of nonfiction, check out Salon Recommends. Here is our own eclectic, eccentric collection of picture-rich books, presented in hopes that it helps you to check off that last name. But no matter how offbeat your problem recipient's pet interest may be, there's got to be a book about it out there somewhere. Either it's your sister-in-law - who you still don't like much but, hey, you're stuck with her - or your cousin who, last you heard, collects stamps only from the 1950s. There's always one person on every holiday gift list who stumps even the most imaginative would-be Santa. ![]()
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