Jetpack Dreams: One Man's Up and Down (But Mostly Down) Search for the Greatest Invention That Never Was

by Mac Montandon

Jetpack Dreams chronicles the colorful pop history and science of that most amazing and mysterious of machines, the jetpack. While exploring our collective fascination with flight, the tale takes readers from the first flimsy, shoulder-mounted wings to Bill Suitor’s 1984 Olympic flight in front of billions of viewers around the world; from a gruesome jetpack-driven murder in Houston in the mid-1990s to the secret laboratories and government facilities of today. Journalist Mac Montandon also explores Hollywood’s fascination with the subject, from the 1949 serial King of the Rocket Men to Lost in Space , The Jetsons and The Rocketeer to the cultural jetpack phenomenon represented by Buck Rogers, James Bond, and Boba Fett. He travels the world to meet jetpack enthusiasts who are readying their own personal flying machines for takeoff. Ultimately, it’s the search for an answer to two simple Where is the jetpack that was promised to him, and to all of us, years ago? And if it’s out there, can he catch a ride?

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2008

About the author

Mac Montandon has written for the New York Times, New York, Details, and Spin, among others. He is the editor of Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader, and founding editor of The Silence of the City (silenceofthecity.com). Mac lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[Topher Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

it took me multiple tries over multiple years to finally finish this thing. so many starts and stops. while it has its engrossing moments, in the end it's too much mac montadon personal history, as told all esquire-esque longform journalism, and superfluous details about oddball hangers-on. but it's not nearly enough text or information about the science or future possibilities of the jetpack, or the space age in general. i really expected more from this, but since it was a dollar tree find and has been sitting on my shelf for over 5 years, it's not nearly the money-suck it could have been. and the steve agnew/yakima connection was fun, if brief. read it if you're a jetpack dreamer or midcentury futurism aficionado, but dont' expect anything earth shattering (or sound barrier breaking, or space-time reconfiguring, or...)

[Turi Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun little book following the author's search for jetpacks (rocket belts, mostly.) Their history, their science, why they won't really work for general use. Mostly, though, this is a celebration of the wacky people who are attracted to jetpacks, their different approaches to building them, and their successes and failures.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I.5. I'm the generation that grew up "knowing" that jetpacks were as inevitable as the three-day work week and lunar colonies. Montandon looks at the history of the tech, the long fictional history (including James Bond, The Rocketeer and Buck Rogers) and the problems with making it an everyday reality (it has to be light enough to wear, yet hold enough fuel for long flights).
Unfortunately that's maybe a quarter of the book. Montandon suffers from the delusion we'll be as interested in him researching the subject as in the topic itself. We get details of his road trips to meet various inventors (he must have written off a lot of travel on his expense account), stories of his friends, his meetings with various guys working on jetpacks today ... I skimmed two thirds of the book.
Won't be keeping this one on my shelves.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book isn't as interesting as it's premise. A slim volume that took way longer to read than it should have. It probably would've made a great magazine article, but reading about the similar failures of several jet-pack enthusiasts chapter after chapter got to be pretty monotonous over time. There are a few engaging bits here and there,but not enough to keep me from putting the book down every 10 pages or so.

[Lisa Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truth is, I abandoned this book at about two-thirds in. Everyone close to me knows I want a jetpack and feel personally slighted by a scientific community that told me is have one by now. Long ago, actually! The book is well written and researched..I just couldn't take any more explanations about why so many people have failed to make the promise of a jetpack happen.

[H. Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could've done with more science and/or history instead of not-quite-memoir family chat, but I did enjoy the narration of his meetings with quirky jetpack people.

[Mark Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if this was about net packs of the author. A little on the gloomy side.

[Hardeep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it was sort of like the Hitchcock movie- The Birds. A whole lot of suspense, and then all of a sudden, for no inexplicable reason, the birds fly away. The author spends a lot of time detailing the history of jetpacks and his quest to ride one. Ends with a very likely chance and then the novel... just... sort of... ends????
By far, the best part was not even written by the author- something he picked up from Craigslist. You MUST read the following rant- its hilarious!!!!
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/...

[Philip Hollenback · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read following the standard pop tech documentary convention. That is, the author sets out to investigate some piece of technology and along the way actually discovers something about himself. For some reason this seems to happen to fathers of young children a lot.

Montandon does a fine job of covering the history of the jetpack (nee rocketbelt) and discovering the oddballs who still work on it today. My only complaint is I wish ther would have been more hard technical info in the book, like diagrams of the elusive jetpack throttle.

Recommended!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give Mac a three for the tendency for the book to drag a bit on details, despite his impressive ability to translate literal rocket science into layperson language. On the other hand, I wanted to give him 4 stars for a killer sense of humor. I mean, the man made rocket science funny. FUNNY. Since Goodreads won't let me award half-stars, 4 stars won out. Consider yourself lucky, Mac.

[Barry Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always wanted a jetpack. So did every young man growing up in the 60's. We got a pocket computer, and a wristwatch phone, why not a jetpack? Montandon explores the dream and why the science just can't make it happen (yet).

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's finally out and on its way from Powell's!

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun road-trip book. Jetpacks are long overdue, and this book explains why.

[Mark Fallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle says it all.... And this one line: "Wheres. My. F&**ng. Jetpack."

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend Mac wrote this totally entertaining book. He's a clever smarty-pants.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read about one man's quest for a real live jetpack. Hubby and I had a good time reading this together.