As You Do: Adventures with Evel, Oliver, and the Vice President of Botswana . . . [Paperback]

Richard Hammond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2009

Moving quickly on from the devastating crash that nearly killed him, Richard ranges widely over his life and times—a visit to Glastonbury with James May reminds of him of his early years of playing in a band and how and why he never quite made it as a rock star; the stunts and other perils that come his way like the Top Gear North Pole race (why is it Richard who is out in the howling elements in a dog sled while the others are in the heated cab of an all-terrain vehicle?); Africa where he falls in love with and repatriates a stray car; and the U.S. (once to be chased by rednecks in middle America, the other in pursuit of his hero Evel Knievel); his passion for cars, what he owns and why, and although he loves his wife why it is a toss-up whether he says hello to the wife or the cars first. Balancing home and family with a crazy, peripatetic working life (or not, sometimes), the Hamster is well and truly back on the wheel.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'[Hammond's] prose reveals him as a thoughtful, decent, generous-hearted man. He is capable of humility and his jokes are funny. As You Do is an unpretentious, well-built vehicle with pleasantly surprising extras and more speed and manoeuvrability than you would have thought.' EVENING STANDARD --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Richard Hammond is internationally famous for cohosting Top Gear. His previous titles include On the Edge and Richard Hammond's Car Confidential.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753825627
• ISBN-13: 978-0753825624
• Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 5.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Travel > Africa > Botswana

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adventures with Hamster, May 31, 2009

By 

kitjank "Guitar Goddess, artist, love of all ... (Hunt Valley, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: As You Do . . .: Adventures with Evel, Oliver, and the Vice-President of Botswana (Hardcover)

The great thing about Hammond's writing style is that he makes you feel as though you are sitting across from him having a pint while he personally tells you about his experiances. The entire time I was reading this I could hear his voice speaking the words. (Jeremy Clarkson's books are also written like this) ONce you read this and realize what actually goes on BEFORE they even begin to shoot an episode really makes you appreciate it all the more. As much as I loved everthing about this book, the best part for me was the last part where Hammond meets up with Evel. It's here where he is really writing from the heart. Of course there is always Oliver too! If you love Top Gear, then do yourself a favor and pick this book up.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars some interesting back stories, December 28, 2009

By 

A. Boddie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: As You Do . . .: Adventures with Evel, Oliver, and the Vice-President of Botswana (Paperback)

This book is a fun and light read, with some of the humor probably particularly appealing to teen boys. I did appreciate how hard the Polar Special was for Mr. Hammond - much more so than the TV version (just shown in the USA Dec 2009) makes it appear. After reading more, I was a bit sad the truck beat him to the pole.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, January 17, 2010

By 

Anne Whitfield/Anne Brear "Author of historic... (NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As You Do . . .: Adventures with Evel, Oliver, and the Vice-President of Botswana (Paperback)

I do like Richard's humorous style within the book and I found it very interesting to see what happens behind the cameras. Richard portrays his interesting life in an engaging way which helps us to understand the man behind the presenter we see on TV.