action's review
4.0
An incredible story about such a serious accident and the hardships that followed. It was interesting to be able to follow two perspectives of such a devastating event and the effects it can have on a person's life. All the way through, it is an emotional book to read and it truly managed to affect me. In the end, I finished the book feeling beyond impressed with both Richard and Mindy Hammond.
mjdolce's review
5.0
What a beautiful, touching, and powerful story. I'm partial, because I am a fan of Top Gear. But I love what this book has to say about family, friends, and overcoming a terrible accident.
drakeula_73's review
2.0
Had this on audiobook, not a bad story but it mostly covers his time on Top Gear and his high speed crash. Have to agree with other reviewers that his wife tends to spoil it when she takes over when he is in the coma. It was a good idea but she puts in too much detail and I found myself skipping forward.
helenephoebe's review
5.0
ISBN? - 9780297853275
General Subject/s? - Biography / Top Gear / Cars
Title? - Hamster was on the edge of life and was living on the edge when he nearly died.
General Analysis? - This is my favourite of Hamster's biographies. It's the most emotionally draining, but it also gives an insight into the working of Top Gear, one of my favourite TV shows. It's interesting to see that although Clarkson and May take the piss out of Hamster all the time on TV, they actually do really care for him.
Recommend? – Yes, brilliant!
General Subject/s? - Biography / Top Gear / Cars
Title? - Hamster was on the edge of life and was living on the edge when he nearly died.
General Analysis? - This is my favourite of Hamster's biographies. It's the most emotionally draining, but it also gives an insight into the working of Top Gear, one of my favourite TV shows. It's interesting to see that although Clarkson and May take the piss out of Hamster all the time on TV, they actually do really care for him.
Recommend? – Yes, brilliant!
pdkauffmann's review
4.0
Fascinating story. His writing is pretty solid, so I'd be interested in reading a more generalized autobiography.
kingfan30's review
4.0
I wouldn’t say we were Top Gear fans in our house, but if when flicking through the channels we came across an episode and there was nothing else on, we would stop and watch, although I would say the other half was more of a fan than me and I’d probably have one eye on a book and one he on the show for the interesting bits.
This mostly covers the accident in the jet car. There is a bit of early background about Richard as a child and his daredevil ways, followed by how he got the job at Top Gear. The detail of the events leading up to the crash were pretty detailed. Once the accident had happened we swap to Mindys voice and how she got the call and the proceedings at the hospital. I felt quite disoriented with the timings once at the hospital, I couldn’t work out it hours, days or weeks were going by, but I guess that was probably how Mindy felt going through it all, and was surprised that actually it was a relatively short time all things considered. Their strength as a couple is amazing and I have had my eyes opened to how damage to the brain can affect people and how the hospitals are trained to deal with it, when it’s actually a very unseen thing that effects every single person suffering so differently.
Overall an interesting read and I feel Mindy has been a disservice by not having her name on the cover, when actually she wrote well over half of this.
This mostly covers the accident in the jet car. There is a bit of early background about Richard as a child and his daredevil ways, followed by how he got the job at Top Gear. The detail of the events leading up to the crash were pretty detailed. Once the accident had happened we swap to Mindys voice and how she got the call and the proceedings at the hospital. I felt quite disoriented with the timings once at the hospital, I couldn’t work out it hours, days or weeks were going by, but I guess that was probably how Mindy felt going through it all, and was surprised that actually it was a relatively short time all things considered. Their strength as a couple is amazing and I have had my eyes opened to how damage to the brain can affect people and how the hospitals are trained to deal with it, when it’s actually a very unseen thing that effects every single person suffering so differently.
Overall an interesting read and I feel Mindy has been a disservice by not having her name on the cover, when actually she wrote well over half of this.
hsomerfield92's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Well told recount of his story. The whole time I could hear him narrating it in my head. Made for a good giggle in parts.