Book Takes A Look At Moon Landing

“Magnificent Desolation” by Buzz Aldrin with Ken Abraham, 2009, Harmony Books, $27/$33 Canada, 326 pages, includes index: Imagine that you went to work one day and changed the world.
Becoming a celebrity, you knew, was inevitable but you didn’t fully anticipate the extent: parades, TV appearances, crowds of fans intent on touching your sleeve. Meals interrupted by paparazzi. Privacy and quiet, a memory.
And while your family wasn’t exactly thrilled with this attention and it got pretty tiresome, one thing bothered you more than anything. It was a question you couldn’t stop asking yourself.
What do I do next?
In the new book “Magnificent Desolation” by Buzz Aldrin (with Ken Abraham), you’ll read an account of the first historic moon landing and its effect on the life of the second man on the moon.
Forty years ago this July, much of the entire world was mesmerized by what they saw on TV. From a short ladder attached to a spider-like capsule, two men, one after the other, stepped onto the moon. Neil Armstrong, because he was closer to the door, was first to set foot on the lunar surface. Buzz Aldrin, who outranked Armstrong but sat farthest from the module’s opening, went next.
This was, Aldrin remembers, a very scientific journey. Though their mission was to collect specimens from the moon’s surface, Aldrin says he wanted to experiment further but frivolity wasn’t the reason for being in space. That lack of opportunity bothered him for many years to come.
The moonwalk made Aldrin, Armstrong and fellow astronaut Michael Collins instantly, wildly famous. After a month-long quarantine, the three were whisked away for celebratory parades, meetings with heads of state and visits abroad. The frenzy appears, in this book, to have boggled Aldrin’s mind.
But once the adoration died down, Aldrin began to ask himself, “What next?” NASA “pretty much closed the door …” and a job at the USAF Test Pilot School didn’t work out. His small salary from the government wasn’t enough to live on, and Aldrin “dabbled” with inventions based on his space walk. Soon, he fell into a deep depression and began drinking. His first wife left him and a second marriage didn’t last long.
Finally, with the help of friends and the “love of [my] life,” Aldrin pulled himself out of the black space he’d fallen into.
For millions of kids and former kids, being an astronaut always sounds so exciting. But before you run out and get fitted for a flight suit, read this eye-opening book first.
Author Aldrin doesn’t brag about his place in history, but he has a few complaints about it. He’s open about his past and his problems, and he takes responsibility. He discusses his efforts for space tourism and more exploratory ideas for the future of NASA. And he bluntly (and quite angrily) addresses conspiracy theorists who think the whole moon landing was a sham.
If you, too, were glued to the TV on that night 40 years ago, or if you always wanted to do a real moonwalk, read this book. For historians and astronaut wannabes, “Magnificent Desolation” is out of this world.

‘MANEATER’ REVIEW
“Maneater” by Mary B. Morrison and Noire, 2009, Dafina Books, $24/$29.45 Canada, 308 pages, includes bonus material: Maybe you go way back to grade school or before, or maybe you met on the job three years ago. She’s got your passwords, and you’ve got her favorite shoes in your closet. You’ve swapped homework, advice and secrets. And when things are rough, your girls are in speed-dial and they’ll come running.
In the new book “Maneater,” featuring novellas by Mary B. Morrison and Noire, you’ll see that men may come and men may go but if they cross a woman, they’d best be running, too.
When a woman is planning her wedding, she has certain details in mind. Most of all, she wants to hear her husband-to-be tell her that she’s beautiful. She does not want him to say she’s fat. So when Maverick Maxamillion tells his fiancé, Seven, that she needs to lose some serious weight before their wedding, Seven is devastated. But in “Character of a Man” by Morrison, “I do” turns quickly into “I don’t.”
Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Maverick had a rough life. His father was a violent man who beat his wife and threw his son out of the house early on. But success is the best revenge, and Maverick is very successful. He’s a millionaire several times over, and he gets what he wants, even if he has to pay for it. Hating his father, Maverick decides to buy some payback.
And while he’s at it, he decides to buy a wife, but it doesn’t matter if it’s Seven or her best friend, Zena. Before he gets married, though, Maverick needs to ditch the man he loves. Away at a women-only paradise, can Seven see through his lies?
Dirty, Dastardly and Depraved. Those are the nicknames of three football players who live up to those monikers. In “Sugar-Honey-Ice-Tee” by Noire, Blow, Nap and Tomere have money and women, and they’re playahs as well as players. They should know better than to play against women.
Football’s training season is no time to mess around, and everybody knew that Blow meant business. So when an up-and-comer came to the top of the roster, Blow and his boys planned revenge. They hit Charlie high and low, snapping his knee and ending his career. Neither Blow, nor Nap, nor Tomere feared any man, so they weren’t worried about Charlie’s friends. They didn’t know about Charlie’s girls.
Quick to read and perfect for vacation, “Maneater” is one of those books you can’t put down because it’s nasty, hot and filled with things you wish you dared to do. Although I loved author Morrison’s contribution, I was disappointed to note that her story continues in another book, which appears to be a Morrison writing trait. Author Noire weighs in with a tale that has an ending you’ll see coming a mile away, but getting there is worth the trip.
Be aware that “Maneater” has erotic scenes and “four-letter” words in it. But if you’re in search for relaxing fun or a bookgroup book, this is one you’ll eat up.

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER has been reading since she was 3 years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.