This is a hard book to evaluate. I thought this book would be more about space and NASA, so I wasn't prepared for all the delving into his personal life. Yeah, I know: "don't judge a book by its cover"... but, c'mon... the cover has an astronaut... in space...

In any case, Buzz is safely home from the moon with 250 pages remaining in the book. I think Buzz Aldrin is brave for discussing his issues with alcoholism, and perhaps it could help others. I'm just not sure it's in my wheelhouse. Within these problems and "blue funks" (temporary bouts of depression where he refuses to do anything?) there are interesting discussions that lean more toward the technical side or his ideas for space flight. It was a bit of a struggle to get to the worthwhile bits at times, so I think it depends what one is looking for in a book.

The most tedious part (for me) by far was his descriptions of his third wife. He takes an enormous amount of time telling about her family (parents' names and history) and the details of her first marriage. It also really bugs me when a first person narrator claims to know the operations of other people's minds - 'cause, boy, did he know every thought his third wife and ex-husband had in their marriage. Why are we even reading about their marriage?? (This is unnecessary ranting. I was REALLY put off by that section. Yeesh.)

As other reviewers have mentioned, Buzz Aldrin does come across as self-congratulatory and drops quite a few names near the end. Buuut... he deserves all the kudos, methinks. And is it name-dropping if a quasi-celebrity talks about other celebrities? I do think he's brought a lot of attention to the space program -probably more than any other astronaut- and you don't do that by being humble.

I don't know if I would have read this if I'd realized just how autobiographical it was, so that was my own fault. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book, I did quite enjoy the first hand recounting of the Apollo 11 mission. So...read the first fifty pages, have a gander at the pictures, and skim the rest. ( )

Other than knowing that Buzz Aldrin was on the first moon landing, I didn't know much about his personal life. I wouldn't have guessed that an astronaut, a PhD engineer from MIT, an Air Force Officer, and an American hero from the Apollo XI flight would have ended up suffering from depression and alcoholism after the moon landing. Aldrin bared it all, showing that it's not the unfortunates struggling through life who can be suffering on the inside. Lots of insights into Aldrin's life, NASA, the space program, and his turning his life around and his vision of future space travel. ( )

nonfiction/memoir. 1st 2 chapters cover the Apollo 11 mission; next 4-6 hours take Buzz to Korea War and through a LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGG battle against depression and alcoholism. Granted, this is a difficult battle, and it understandably could take up a big portion of a person's life, but unfortunately it does not make for good reading/listening. It's the equivalent of arguing with an irrational person for hours and hours--because that's what it is to try and get help for a person that doesn't accept the help, over and over and over and over and over again, for multiple chapters. So we skipped a whole disc, and ultimately quit listening. ( )

An insight into the life of one of the first men on the moon

I actually started reading this a couple years ago and just picked it up recently to finish. I like the information on his life and how he dealt with his demons of depression and alcoholism. Hearing that someone as "important" to our country struggles just like the rest of us was helpful. Sorry he had those problems but glad Buzz shared. However, much of the book felt like a big advertisement for his plan to get to Mars. I liked hearing about the plan, but it was mentioned too much, I think. ( )