On the Edge

By: Richard Hammond

Narrated by: Richard Hammond, Mindy Hammond

Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Richard Hammond describes his childhood and adolescence and the emergence of the adrenalin junkie, the first ridiculous stunts on his tricycle, and an increasing and near-obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of petrol. He finds an attractive girl, Mindy, who shares his interests and helps him organise his high-speed life. For such a lively and intelligent communicator, TV beckons and he becomes one of the daredevil trio, with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, who make such an enormous world-wide success of the revamped BBC-TV programme Top Gear.

He describes the personalities, the camaraderie, and the stunts with which they entertain their weekly audiences until the day of his 300 mph crash that took Top Gear off the air and plunged a nation into mourning. The day of the crash, his rescue and the flight to hospital in a coma are described, and then Mindy recounts the anxious waiting until he finally emerges from his coma to immediately pull out all his life-support equipment.

Richard then pieces together the stages of recovery as his shattered mind slowly reforms. We learn exactly what happened to him and the milestones in his slow recovery to full health. The final chapter recounts the return to Top Gear and the screening of the events of that fateful day.

©2007 Richard Hammond (P)2007 Orion Publishing Group Ltd

Heart warming!

What a terrific telling of Richard's ordeal after the car crash. Hearing the lovely Mindy tell of a wife's ordeal to pull her love back from the injuries was retching but warming in a family of love. I recomend this book for fans of TopGear and strangers alike. They are honest and encouraging to couples around the world.

Honest and touching

I loved how honest this was, including the yelling, fear, joy, tenderness etc. All the kinds of emotion you would expect when faced with a trial like this. The Hammond clan seem to be close and genuine. Mindy and Richard have a wonderful relationship and I appreciate them sharing their struggles with the world.

The story flows well and is very interesting and I didn't want to stop until I was done.

Thank you!

great story

hi I had wondered how Richard's accident had affected him glad to know he has recovered

Thanks

I had read this book a few years back, but after suffering a dissected artery stroke to my cerebellum two weeks ago, I found myself lying in a rehab center wanting to reread it. Major issue, I was still seeing double every now and then and knew it would be difficult to read. Audible to the rescue, and how amazing to hear it in Richard and Mindy’s voices. Thanks so much, gave me a nice boost to hopefully finish my time here.

Riveting and emotional book from near death

What made the experience of listening to On the Edge the most enjoyable?

The emotion and trajedy.

What other book might you compare On the Edge to and why?

None that I can think of.

What does Richard Hammond and Mindy Hammond bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Oh yes... they made it far more compelling.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Never scrape your head on the ground at 300 mph"

Any additional comments?

I like RH. He's funny and a great presenter. He's a good Englishmen who tries to be American. So he nearly kills himself in this rocket car on Top Gear and decided to write about it. It will get you in the throat as it's hard not to visualize the pain everyone was going through and his frustration. Great listen.

A Love Story

OK fellow gearheads; this book is a great story of love. Mindy Hammond had my wife in tears at times, and both of them had my wife and me laughing at Richard's antics. What a treasure this story will be for their girls when they get old enough to appreciate it.

Great book, the the audiobook is incomplete.

This book is wonderful. Great writings. But the actual book has more content than the audiobook version.

Heartwarming

Even though this is an abridged version, I was very moved by Richard Hammond's story. Through narration from both Richard and his wife Mindy, you can hear their love for one another as they share the story. I was moved to tears on several occasions. I will be renting this unabridged book very soon!!

This is an amazing story

Buy this book!! Even if you are not a fan of Top Gear. Hammond lives to tell an amazing tale after surviving an horrific crash that no-one would have survived. He gives a detailed insight into the event and all the tom-foolery behind the scenes. Even better, we get to hear his wife's point of view of how she felt when it played out. The recovery is a difficult yet touching story, and it is all delivered with Hammond's trademark cheaky wit. He is a great story teller and one senses that he needed to tell this story to move on. I felt like I was right there with him while he struggled to regain his personality. Very well delivered. On the Edge is filled with humour, pain and joy. Great book.

Good overview

I was always curious about Hammond’s accident. So hearing the account leading up to it is interesting. I totally missed that his wife would be narrating part of the book. I really liked hearing the story from her perspective. It added a much needed point of view.