DIARY OF A COSMONAUT; 211 Days in Space <i> by Valentin Lebedev translated by Luba Diangar (Bantam: 4.95) </i>

The journal of Valentin Lebedev’s record-breaking seven-month stay aboard the space station Solyut-7 with a single companion in 1982 offers a rare look at the claustrophobic daily routines of manned space exploration. Success as a cosmonaut depends less on derring-do than an ability to execute mundane chores and endure an environment that is simultaneously demanding and dreary. Lebedev’s flat prose inadvertently captures the monotony of daily life in orbit, but the book needs diagrams and/or photographs of the interior of the space station to supplement the descriptions of various pieces of equipment, especially the improbable bathroom facilities.