Magnificent Desolation

The Long Journey Home from the Moon

By: Buzz Aldrin, Ken Abraham

Narrated by: Patrick Egan

Length: 14 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Forty years ago, Buzz Aldrin became the second human, minutes after Neil Armstrong, to set foot on a celestial body other than the Earth. The event remains one of mankind's greatest achievements and was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history. In the years since, millions more have had their Earth-centric perspective unalterably changed by the iconic photograph of Aldrin standing on the surface of the moon, the blackness of space behind him and his fellow explorer and the Eagle reflected in his visor. Describing the alien world he was walking upon, he uttered the words "magnificent desolation." And as the astronauts later sat in the Eagle, waiting to begin their journey back home, knowing that they were doomed unless every system and part on board worked flawlessly, it was Aldrin who responded to Mission Control's clearance to take off with the quip, "Roger. Understand. We're number one on the runway."

The flight of Apollo 11 made Aldrin one of the most famous persons on our planet, yet few people know the rest of this true American hero's story. In Magnificent Desolation, Aldrin not only gives us a harrowing first-person account of the lunar landing that came within seconds of failure and the ultimate insider's view of life as one of the superstars of America's space program, he also opens up with remarkable candor about his more personal trials - and eventual triumphs - back on Earth.

From the glory of being part of the mission that fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge to reach the moon before the decade was out, Aldrin returned home to an Air Force career stripped of purpose or direction, other than as a public relations tool that NASA put to relentless use in a seemingly nonstop world tour. The twin demons of depression and alcoholism emerged - the first of which Aldrin confronted early and publicly and the second of which he met with denial until it nearly killed him. He burned through two marriages, his Air Force career came to an inglorious end, and he found himself selling cars for a living when he wasn’t drunkenly wrecking them. Redemption came when he finally embraced sobriety, gained the love of a woman, Lois, who would become the great joy of his life, and dedicated himself to being a tireless advocate for the future of space exploration - not only as a scientific endeavor, but also as a thriving commercial enterprise.

These days, Buzz Aldrin is enjoying life with an enthusiasm that reminds us how far it is possible for a person to travel, literally and figuratively. As an adventure story, a searing memoir of self-destruction and self-renewal, and as a visionary rallying cry to once again set our course for Mars and beyond, Magnificent Desolation is the thoroughly human story of a genuine hero.

©2009 Buzz Aldrin (P)2009 Random House

Not the book I expected, and delighted for it

It starts with the juicy bits about the moon, and goes off into a rollercoaster into Buzz's life after the moon, and the many struggles and triumphs along the way. I found this to have a very personal touch that I could deeply relate to and Buzz has during the course of this book become my new favourite astronaut.

Magnificent even though long

The book is long and once I had reached the late 1970's portion of this book I wondered what the rest of the book would be about. But I am VERY glad I read on into the 80's, 90's and 2000's. Buzz is a complex man and has inspired people of multiple generations with his active and long life and his courage. Now he can add one more person he has inspired.

Raw truth

Buzz told his honest story of his ups and downs , his failures & historic accomplishments ! I loved it ! To infinity & beyond !

Magnificent Disappointment

I’ve been enjoying reading and listening to many books written by astronauts. I looked forward to Dr Aldrin’s book with great anticipation.
Except for the first chapters on the historic moon landing and immediate aftermath, I saw no real point to the story. I know it was his life story, but I looked for more and found little.
He has a great passion for space, and space exploration, but an entire book is overkill for that point alone.
The performance added to my disappointment. It often came off as if he was whining and complaining. Not enjoyable to listen to.
My thoughts.

An AA Memoir

Four decades ago we "older guys" saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon. It was one of the most exciting days of our lives and will never be fogotten. The first 20% of Magnificent Desolation tells that story and what a story it is. The middle of the book tells of Aldrin's battle with depression and alcohol. The last pages relate his ideas about the future of NASA and space flight.

This book is not worthy of a man with a PhD from MIT and the military rank he attained. There were no new insights in the voyage to the moon. The story about his depression and alcohol addiction came off as self serving and the sections on how NASA might enhance the space program read like sour grapes. The ability and thoughtfulness of this great American should have shown much brighter. He deserves a better legacy.

Otherwise,for readers who just want to "get to know" this great man, his candor and honesty alone will reward them. It isn't a bad book, it just could have been far more instructive and insightful.

The reading is very good.

An inspirational story of a great national hero

An amazing true story of one of our most famous astronauts overcoming depression and alcoholism to becoming our best advocate for future manned space exploration and tourism. It’s a good mix of his deeply personal story and a history of the Apollo program including a play by play of the Apollo 11 moon landing in the first few chapters. The narrator has a similar sound and quality to Buzz’s voice that make listening feel authentic.

Great Read

Satisfingly technical to keep a geek like me happy... but with a lot of reflection of his entire life so far as well.

Alternately touching and throwaway

The most worthwhile parts of this biography are front loaded...
- The fascinating account of Apollo 11, which is just genuinely amazing and such an achievement it really needs no deep insight or analysis to prop it up
- The painful account of Buzz's post-Apollo years of alcoholism and depression. It's an honest portrayal of a real human problem, and made all the more poignant set against the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" attitude of that era. How many of Buzz's family members need to kill themselves before it's taken seriously?

The latter half of the book is sort of boring unnecessary stuff... on the one hand, it's boring because it's honest (a stretch of his life filled with him dating, giving speeches, and advocating a different approach to space than NASA would pursue). There's still some interesting stuff -- his proposal for a Mars cycler, his (very justified) assault of Bart Sibrel, and the way that his depression is framed as a constant struggle -- but it's not always enough to justify the amount of the book documenting that period of his life.

Generally, there's some overriding annoying bits, like the way his politics occasionally creep into the book, and the fact that the writing seems occasionally amateurish in structure and style. The post-book interview is also a little awkward and makes it more clear how Buzz comes off without the benefit of a writer cleaning up his ideas.

Basically, I think this would have been a better read if it was an end-to-end auto/biography rather than just covering the post Apollo years. To me, having some more concrete background in his youth would give a bigger picture into his perspective and world, and would have preferred that to so much focus on his latter years. Buzz is an odd media fixture, and there's a temptation to see him as a bit of a proto-reality-star has-been. But he really is a fascinating person, and I think overall this book frames it in a compelling way, even if it's got some unnecessary stuff.

A more personal (and flawed) astronaut story

Buzz Aldrin is a world hero, brilliant engineer, mental health survivor...and exposes his struggles and flaws in ways few others dare.
Buzz's later memoir is a much more personal story than Collins' Carrying the Fire. I found it enjoyable and engaging to learn about Buzz's perspectives on the landing but moreso the decades after.
The third act bends toward self-promotion (not unexpected) but the overflowing adoration of Lois quickly wears thin even not knowing that the marriage crumbled during the tour for this book.
It does serve as a reminder that even our heroes are human after all.

Too Much

The social churn Aldrin chose to stay in was too much for a the type of person
he is, and caused him tons of grief.
Neil Armstrong was smarter, he just unplugged and went back to rural routes.
It happens all the time, where sudden fame makes hell for somebody; just trying
to remain a fantastic enlargement of themselves.
Anyway, too much head stuff and not enough Space for me, so I didnt bother
downloading the second half.
Aldrin was ahead of his time, having the courage to admit to his problems

The story lacked a space theme I was looking for, here is a guy who spent one
of the longest EVA's in the Gemini program.
It is always puzzling the reticence of the astronauts about an out of this world experience.
The technical part of the moon landing bought forth a fact I never knew-
that by surreptitiously leaving on the Ascent radar, he was the direct cause
of the alarms that came close to aborting the landing.
I wonder what Armstrong said afterwards !