Darrell Hammond takes you on a journey that includes his unfulfilled dream of becoming a professional baseball player, the physical and psychological abuse inflicted by his parents, addiction to alcohol and drugs, his career on Saturday Night Live and everything in-between.
A few days ago, I read an article about Darrell Hammond that briefly described some of the abuse he endured at the hands of his mother. I only thought of him as the talented guy who did great impressions of politicians on SNL, but after reading that article I became intrigued. I wanted to learn more about the man and how he managed to have such a successful career in spite of his horrific upbringing.
This book didn't disappoint. Hammond explains how his parents were church-going Christians who were thought of highly in their community, but behind closed doors they inflicted violence and chaos in their home on a regular basis. Growing up in an environment where he never felt safe caused Hammond to suffer from debilitating trauma and substance abuse throughout his life.
Hammond emphasizes how much of his life was spent living with overwhelming dread, doubt, and fear. One of the things I took away from this memoir is that Hammond is incredibly resilient. It is miraculous that in spite of everything he's been through he was capable of having such a long and successful career in the entertainment industry and didn't have a tragic ending like other SNL alumni who also struggled with substance abuse.
Hammond takes you inside the mind of an addict who is willing to forego obligations to work and family in a heartbeat in order to indulge that all-consuming urge for drugs and alcohol. He stayed on that hamster wheel for years in spite of the damage and embarrassment he assumed he caused not only to himself but to others who cared about him.
Towards the end of the book it's refreshing to read how he comes to terms with his childhood. He realizes the pain his parents must have experienced in order to live their lives the way they did. As anyone who has dealt with childhood abuse knows, getting to that point is hard work that requires emotional maturity, healing, and the ability to see beyond your own pain. Hammond also gets to the point where he acknowledges how his behavior negatively affected the people around him. He doesn't claim that he has conquered his addictions or that he has completely overcome the pain he suffered as a child, but he takes life one day at a time. I don't think any of us can expect more than that.
It's not easy to tell stories about your life that caused you to feel shame, humiliation, and embarrassment, but Hammond does just that. Exposing the good, bad, and ugly parts of his life is what makes this memoir so memorable.
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Customer reviews
Printers mistake made this hard to read.
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2021
I watched the documentary and was super excited to read this book. bUTStory is pretty good but the printer has the type spaces funny so nearly every page and it was super hard to read. I can’t be the only one to complain. Wait for another addition. IDK I’m dyslexic and and it’s already tough to read and stumbling through this print was crazy hard.
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries
Robert Mitchell
Proof reading??
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 14, 2022investigator77
What a great story, against the backdrop of horrible torment
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 24, 2020
Nicole
Buy this in person
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 18, 2021
Buy this in person
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 18, 2021
The book it self is good so far as I haven’t finished however it is a very difficult read as instead of spaces between each word there are spaces between letters in a word and sometimes multiples in a row which make for a difficult read. I don’t know if the book I got was error in printing but I would suggested buying in person to make sure you get a book with proper print
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 18, 2021
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