Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon

MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION: THE LONG JOURNEY HOME FROM THE MOON provides a powerful autobiography of his life, from his rise to become an astronaut on the first lunar landing mission to his view of life as one of the representatives of America's space program. From hair-raising potentials for failure to his life on earth thereafter and the evolution of depression due to grueling political and social pressures, this introduces a Buzz most of the world has never seen - and is highly recommended for any general lending collection.

Buzz Aldrin was blessed with many God-given talents, and this was both a blessing and a curse to him. The problem with persons who are capable of everything and who are popular enough to get along with everyone is that there is bound to be resentment...from both sides of the road. Buzz writes his autobiography with grace and style, with Ken Abraham smoothing out the rough corners --- I enjoyed reading this book immensely because I learned alot about the man; his good sides and his bad sides. It starts with his Moonshot story, which I found to be facinating - I have read many books on this particular topic, and I cannot get enough of this profoundly scientific story! Thankfully alot of the dry, boring technical details are left out of this book, because I've grown weary of reading all the techno-buzzwords! Buzz shows his vast degree of patience when he addresses the tired question, what did it feel like to be on the Moon? The problem is, he doesn't really know ---- since he was way too busy and distracted with a killer laundry list of tasks to be completed while he was on the surface of the Moon! I think he felt a deep fear, but he could not admit to such weak feelings since what he was doing was the stuff of basic hero worship. Buzz describes the desolation of the rock strewn moon to be exquisically magnificent....did he mean it was so desolute and destitute of color that it was magnificent desolation? I think that's what the man means when he utters his famous declaration; magnificent desolation. He talked about the moon as being a very lonely place, very isolated and he was uncertain that the Apollo 11 mission would be entirely successful - there were so many things that could go wrong. But in the end, it was God's will that Apollo end safely. I believe Buzz suffered alot of internal frustration around the fact that he was to be the second man to step out on the moon's surface during the Apollo 11 Moon landing, but he could have been the second man to die on the surface of the moon just as easily. Fate smiled on him and Neil Armstrong that fateful day, July 20th, 1969 - 40 years ago. I was just a 10 year old kid growing up in Downey when Buzz landed; one of the towns that gave rise to the huge Saturn V rocket ship that propelled the 3 astronauts into the Heavens. If you were alive during that historic event, you will never forget your own circumstances around it. This was a national moment of pride and I remember it with intense fondness. Buzz has a name that will never be forgotten, once you hear of it. He was baptized Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr, but he had his name legally changed to Buzz since he wanted to be his own man and emerge from the shadow of his overbearing father, who was also an airman in the US Airforce. Aldrin recalls that the Moon is a dry and dusty place; it's just ancient gray dust sprinkled heavily with gray rocks all over the landscape. One is more cogniscent of the horizon while looking around on the moon since it's a sma

"The sun had not yet come up and was barely peeking above the horizon as I stood on the grating and peered through the clear bubble helmet I wore. The only sound I could hear came from my ventilation unit." Twenty-four humans have travelled to the Moon, and only 12 of them got to walk on the surface. Descriptions of what such a truely `out-of-this-world' experience was really like can only be written by these 12. Buzz is one of the 12, indeed he was on the first mission. For the epochs history stuff. The titbit in the book that the lift-off from the Moon in the spindly Eagle was much faster than the mighty Saturn V launch a few days earlier (due to the Moon's less powerful gravity and the lighter mass of the launch vehicle) is an example of I-was-there super coolness that makes all the other technical books about the moon landings come to human breathing life. There are many such books that cover the Apollo program, but this smooth autobiography fills in what it was like to be there - and what it is like to find yourself back on Earth with a second half of a life still to lead. What to do now? How does such fame change people? For a while the only sound Buzz heard was his own breathing in an empty bubble. There isn't much about Buzz's early life, the story here is the ten years of divorce, depression and alcoholism after the moon landing, then his new wife and new life promoting the `Buzz Brand' and being a booster for space travel. Not a lot of detail or surprising revelations, however it's an honest thought-provoking look at a complex man in a complex situation. Neil and Buzz have been living in a clear bubble ever since 1969, and getting a peek inside is worth the time it takes to read 300 something pages.

This is an interesting and enjoyable read. Dr. Aldrin's space adventures are finished by page 58; the bulk of the book is devoted to the story of Buzz finding something worthwhile to do after "doing everything" (walking on the moon) at an early age. Buzz is very gracious in the book. He writes thankfully about the influence of Ed White in his career decisions and John Houbolt's contribution to the Apollo program, then laughs about being "the first Buzz on the moon." He talks openly of his battles with depression and alcoholism. Finally he gives thanks to his wife Lois for the positive influences and structure she has brought to his life. Buzz has had a bumpy road since returning from the moon, but it's reassuring to learn he is an everyday person who is approaching life's challenges much like the rest of us. Kudos to Buzz for his honest approach to life and this book. Gary Milgrom [...]

Having just read a condensation of Buzz Aldrin's "Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home From the Moon," I felt his pain and knew the depression that was rocking his world. Ironically, his prescription for a way out, was more booze; a depressant itself. "Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home From the Moon," is written in a manner that leaves you wanting to hurry up and get to the next paragraph. It's difficult for many to understand how you can feel so alone, in spite of the fact that millions know you, but "Buzz" has done it. He tells a great story Claude "Hoot" Hooten aka: Brad Edwards Author "Drunk & Disorderly, Again - My name is Hoot, I'm an alcoholic."