Cons: After a good beginning, the book gets bogged down.
The Bottom Line: The story of Buzz Aldrin from the moon landing to today is not quite well-told enough to recommend, though those interested in space travel will find things to like here.
sweaver's Full Review: Buzz Aldrin - Magnificent Desolation: The Long Jou...
This is not Buzz Aldrin's first published autobiography; he published one in the 1970s, and one aimed at an elementary school audience a few years ago. However, this edition covers the recent details of his life, including all the difficulties faced by a "man on the moon."
Perhaps because the earlier tome covered his childhood, Aldrin largely eschews his younger years, and begins with the moon landing itself. The book roughly divides into three parts; the mission of Apollo 11, his bout with alcoholism, depression, and finding meaning in his life after the moon mission, and his life since with his new wife, and promoting space travel and exploration.
The title, "magnificent desolation," refers to a quote by Aldrin himself on beholding and trying to describe the moonscape before him. This is the most engaging part of the book, his recounting of the events of the mission of Apollo 11, and the exploits of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and himself. There is little new ground here, as the story was viewed live by the world in 1969, has been recounted in books and movies since, and is widely available, but the first-person account is still thrilling. Aldrin tells the stories of the events on the moon, describes why he is in most of the photography on the moon's surface (Armstrong's spacesuit had a strap to hold the camera, Aldrin's did not) and makes sure that Collins, who did not set foot on the moon but orbited in the main capsule, is not left out.
The next section recalls how Aldrin dealt with life after the moon. The three astronauts set out on a public relations tour, sent by NASA to talk to children, and to keep publicity up for further space travel. The world was caught up in the story of the moon landing, and the famous astronauts were in great demand. However, being PR people was not a comfortable fit for men who were used to science and action, to testing their physical limits. After several months of the rubber chicken circuit, and deciding to get out of the way of their fellow astronauts and allow them to get their own shots at the moon, each went their separate ways. Aldrin returned to the Air Force, becoming commandant of a test pilot school after hoping for a shot at commandant of the Air Force Academy.
A longtime military man with a doctorate in orbital mechanics from MIT, Aldrin found the desk duty of the school limiting, and when his recommendations for changes were ignored, found himself sinking into depression. Always a heavy drinker, his alcoholism deepened with his mood. His marriage foundered and his life began to unravel.
A divorce, a new wife, and a new focus, on promoting new space travel and space tourism, has filled the more recent years for Aldrin, who has become the most visible of the 12 men who landedon the moon. He even retells his adventure of being accosted by a moon landing denier, and punching the lunatic. That, more than anything else, seems to have defined his recent years. More than that, though, Aldrin has lent his face and voice to popular culture from David Letterman to the Simpsons to promote his space-oriented causes. If Aldrin has his way, soon far more people will be going into space, and for far less than the $20 million most of those who have gone up in Russian rockets have paid for the privilege.
The first part of the book, retelling the moon landing, is very interesting. However, much of the rest is repetitive and tedious. I found myself struggling to get through it. I lost count of how many times Aldrin repeated the phrase "blue funk" to describe his bouts of depression. Co-author Ken Abraham is known as a ghostwriter to the stars, but his work could have been better here.
As Aldrin himself notes in these pages, he has been accused of being self-centered on many occasions. While he certainly does not attempt to take solo credit for the space program, you can feel that in these pages. Certainly an amount of narcissism is necessary to writing an autobiography, but there seems to be a large dose of it here. I don't know whether Aldrin, Abraham, or an editor decided to title a chapter, "Every Superman Needs His Lois," referring to his wife's name, but it rings a little off-key. Therein lies the difficulty of the book.
I liked it, but can't recommend it. I don't think it will work for a majority who are not as interested in space and astronauts as I.
This memoir by the world-renowned astronaut describes his fantastic journey to the moon, his subsequent bout with depression and alcoholism, the passi...More at Buy.com
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