Ok, not really Richard Hammond. Richard Hammond’s book On the Edge: My Story. And it really wasn’t a sound sleep, it was more like a doze and I was woken up when the book knocked me in the face. Thank God it was a paperback. So obviously I haven’t gotten very far, page 6 or so. Here is the publisher’s description…
“In September 2006, Richard Hammond suffered a serious brain injury following a high-speed car crash. Here is his compelling accou
nt of life before and after the accident and an honest description of his recovery, full of drama and incident. An adrenalin junkie long before his association with Top Gear, Richard tells the story of his life, from the small boy showing off with ridiculous stunts on his bicycle to the adolescent with a near-obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of petrol. After a series of jobs in local radio, he graduated to television. His insights into the personalities, the camaraderie, and the stunts for which Top Gear has become famous, make compulsive reading. It was while filming that Richard was involved in a high speed crash, driving a jet-powered dragster. His wife Mindy tells the story of the anxious hours and days of watching and waiting until he finally emerged from his coma. In an extraordinarily powerful piece of writing, she and Richard then piece together the stages of his recovery as his shattered mind slowly reformed. The final chapter recounts his return home and his triumphant reappearance in front of the cameras.
You can click here to buy it on Amazon.
The book has no introduction. Well, it does, but it’s on the back cover. Once you open the front cover he gets right to the meat of his story. There are 3 sets of pictures from various times in his life. The one that is my most favourite (it is a review of a British book after all) is one from his youth. He has that signature imphish look that we all know from Top Gear. And since I’ve really only gotten past the beginning chapter, I don’t have much more to say. Now.