A DRINKING LIFE

Long a fixture and chronicler of the Manhattan scene, Hamill published this bestselling memoir of his troubled blue-collar Brooklyn upbringing and his rise to fame as the journalistic embodiment of the spirit of New York. Sentiment and nostalgia sweeten his tough language and unsparing descriptions of brutality as he simultaneously gains professional success and plummets into alcoholism. Jonathan Davis has a fresh-scrubbed, clean-cut sound. He makes Hamill sound more sympathetic and less urbane than the text does. He reads very well, though not always in sync with the book's humorous touches. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]