As most of you know I'm a big Top Gear addict. However, I've not always been like that. I didn't really know much about Top Gear until the summer of 2006. I got bored and started to watch some of the old episodes and immediately fell in love with the little bloke.
Then about two months ... Read review
Richard Hammond is one of our most in-demand and best-loved television presenters. On ... more
September 20, 2006, he suffered a serious brain injury following a high-speed car crash, and the nation held its breath. On the Edge is his compelling account of life before and after the accident and an honest description of his year of recovery, full of drama and incident.
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Advantages: heartwrenching story about his crash. Disadvantages: Not enough about his childhood etc.
...months later, I heard something on the news… Richard Hammond was in a coma after crashing a 200mph jet powered car. I think the countries hearts were in their mouths wanting him to pull through.
When he released the book I immediately wanted to read it. With the help of his wife Mindy, he manged to write a 200+ page biography from the time just before his crash to now.
===Is it worth reading? ===
Damn, ... ...my face but still carried on reading.
It was heartbreaking to see how someone can just change like that just from a knock on the head.
If I was someone who had no idea that Richard was a celebrity and that he had pulled through, I would have thought it was a fantastic little book.
I can't really say that I enjoyed it however as in my opinion that wouldn't be right… It wasn't a nice experience by any ... more
As most of you know I'm a big Top Gear addict. However, I've not always been like that. I didn't really know much about Top Gear until the summer of 2006. I got bored and started to watch some of the old episodes and immediately fell in love with the little bloke.
Then about two months later, I heard something on the news… Richard Hammond was in a coma after crashing a 200mph jet powered car. I think the countries hearts were in their mouths wanting him to pull through.
When he released the book I immediately wanted to read it. With the help of his wife Mindy, he manged to write a 200+ page biography from the time just before his crash to now.
Is it worth reading?
Damn, yes! I was riveted. I sat down Christmas day and just read… at one point I had tears streaming down my face but still carried on reading.
It was heartbreaking to see how someone can just change like that just from a knock on the head.
If I was someone who had no idea that Richard was a celebrity and that he had pulled through, I would have thought it was a fantastic little book.
I can't really say that I enjoyed it however as in my opinion that wouldn't be right… It wasn't a nice experience by any means and I just pray that nothing like that ever happens to me or my family.
Mindy Hammond
What a fantastic little writer. I saw an interview with Hammond and he was saying that when she was writing her thing, he was quite patronising saying 'don't worry honey, I'm sure it'll be good' and when he finally read it he was stumped at how good it was and I have to agree.
In a way hers was always going to be the more detailed part of the book… she went through everything! Richard was only conscious for some of it and when he was conscious he hardly remembers to this day.
When she gets the news of the crash your heart almost breaks. The things she had to deal with were horrible, Hammond wasn't always the nicest after he came to and she had to struggle A LOT.
Richard Hammond
As he doesn't remember much about the crash, a lot of his part of the story is the bits leading up to the crash, and after the crash from when he remembers. In my opinion the things I enjoyed most was the tales he told of his childhood… you get a little insight in how he became the cheeky chap from the car show and how obsessed he was of motoring from a young age.
It gives a lot of insight into how he and Mindy met and when he used to work at a radio station. The hardest part for me to read was probably when he was explaining all about the time leading up to the crash. He was honestly excited about this jet powered car… he loved the idea of just going 'really really fast'.
Richard's bits bring a bit more humour to the book whereas of course Mindy's bits are heart wrenching.
I also love the fact where he says he's just the little bloke of the car show; no one's going to care about me.
The Friends
This book I think showed Richard what he means to the world. Especially to his friends at Top Gear. James May and Jeremy Clarkson were there most of the time ready to support Mindy and help their best friend get through. Despite all the arguing and disagreements you can see how much they actually care about each other.
The Biography
I wouldn't really call this a biography. There's a bit too little on his childhood but still it was a fantastic book, how he fought his way back to the living again.
I would love for him to do a proper biography where he explains more about how he became the man he is today.
What Happened?
Richard was driving a jet-powered dragster at speeds over 300mph. He did it a few times around the track and about his third time around, the tyre burst and the car powered out of control. Without his helmet he would be dead today.
Top Gear
His beloved show was nearly cancelled after health and safety pulled them off air for a while. The team spent months trying to get it back as Hammond would have been crushed if the show had been cancelled because of him.
However… four/five months on they went back to filming, one of their first things to do was travel across the artic. There's a nice bit at the start where he says, he's always been able to do things well at first but when he couldn't handle that part he assumed it was the brain damage… not just the fact that he couldn't do it.
Is he an idiot?
Yes! Most people think the same as me, who risks their life like this when they've got a young family at home.
However he explains all this in his book and what his daughters and wife mean to him.
Since the crash he's travelled the artic, road from one part of Africa to another nearly drowning. He's gone across the English Channel in a well car and gone across London racing public transport, a boat and car on a bike.
He may not be that smart, but everyone still seems to love him.
Anything else
I think he's calmed down, who are we kidding… I think if he had another chance he would do it all again, including the jet powered car.
In his opinion he's got the best job in the world, who else get's to drive the best cars in the world, drive everywhere in the world and get paid for it… well except Jeremy and James, NO ONE.
Shall I go out and buy it?
Yes, definitely. I've read it twice now since Christmas and just think it's one of the best biographies I've ever read. Its heart wrenching but at the same time… watching how two people have to fall in love with each other again is just nice.
Here's a nice little video that he did promoting his book.
Advantages: very readable, honest and moving Disadvantages: none
...a jet car, which occurred on 20th September 2006. When I saw that he had written a book about what happened and his road to recovery, I knew I was going to have to read it.
The first thing to say is that although you might find the book in the autobiography section of any good book shop, that is not really what it is. There are a couple of chapters which talk about his childhood and how he got the job on Top Gear but much of his thirty six years ... ...people saw the crash shown on TV they could hardly think he would survive let alone recover so well. That is what makes this book such a moving and involving read.
One of the things you really gain a sense of from the book is how close knit Richard Hammond's family is. His wife Mindy played such a key role in nursing her husband, his two daughters were incredibly brave when 'Daddy was poorly' and his parents, brothers and their families formed a ...
kingfisher111 06.05.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of On The Edge - Richard Hammond
Advantages: Fantastic writing, amazing story Disadvantages: You will probably cry (I did!)
...we would ever see him on tv again, would he be the same person?
The first television appearance was on Jonathan Ross, and I tuned in eagerly, to see if the Hamster we all loved was still there. It seemed yes he was, apart from a new love for celery, and an uncanny ability to recall everyone's phone number! What relief. During this time we had been watching the media storm against the BBC and more specifically Top Gear, claims it was dangerous, it ... ...I had found Hammonds interview on Ross fascinating.
Being stingy however, I waited until I could pick it up at two books for £7 in the supermarket! (In all fairness, it's only now Mia's reaching one that I get chance to read anyway!).
To be honest, I didn't expect a talented writer when I thought of Hammond, which in hindsight, was silly, he is a journalist after all. I was shocked by the unique and direct writing style he used. Somehow, there ...
miasmum82 21.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of On The Edge - Richard Hammond
Advantages: Beautifully written Disadvantages: Not a complete autobiography
...who just happens to be on TV, especially on "Brainiac" and "Top Gear", where his cheeky sense of humour and his natural enthusiasm are given full rein. Whenever you watch him, it feels like he's about to walk out of the studio, into the pub and say "you'll never guess what I just did/drove/exploded" and have you in fits of laughter for the rest of the evening telling you all about it.
We get a brief look at how the cheeky young boy became the cheeky ... ...time in local radio and on "Top Gear" presenter, before recounting the day of his accident. His wife Mindy takes over the story while Richard is easing in and out of consciousness in Leeds General Hospital and you get both sides of the story once Richard has been transferred to Bristol and is more coherent.
The parts of the book are quite distinct, with Mindy's parts being quite simply written but full of emotion and Richard's having more humour, ...
Soho_Black 10.02.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of On The Edge - Richard Hammond
...that he had not been on my radar at all. I knew who he was from the odd Top Gear I had watched, but now it seems that he is one of the most recognisable faces in the country. I am now an avid Top Gear fan, and cannot comprehend why the show and it's humour had not grabbed me so forcefully before.
Most people know the story. Richard was filming for Top Gear when he was involved in a crash whilst travelling over 200 miles per hour in a jet powered ... ...the recovery that he went on to make. We, the watching public read about the crash, and his progress in and out of hospital, but this book, written with his devoted wife Mindy details exactly what happened through this dramatic and emotional time.
The book is not strictly a book of his life, as his childhood is only briefly covered, but it gives you a taster of the man as a boy, and how in so many ways he has not grown up. He has been a petrol head ...
eandemam 15.03.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of On The Edge - Richard Hammond
Advantages: Great book, "unputdownable"! Disadvantages: Subject matter is pretty miserable
...with courage.
On The Edge is the biography of Ricahrd Hammond, TV presenter and journalist. who (until September 2006) is most famous for presenting Top Gear. Whilst filming for Top Gear, Richard had a crash in a jet powered car, whilst travelling at almost 300mph. The effects were devestating, and he was airlifted to hospital with serious brain injuries. This book deals with his life, before and after the accident.
The book does not dwell on Hammond's ... ...top gear job. The atmosphere on set at Top Gear is described, as is his joy at getting the job. There is some mention of his wife, Mindy, and daughters, who really come into their own later on. There is an in depth description of Richard's memories of the day of the crash. As he says, there is no way of knowing exactly how accurate they are, but the health and safety reports tally well with his recollection. It is from the point of the crash onward ...
sk0680 28.02.2008 (14.04.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of On The Edge - Richard Hammond
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