OR IS THAT JUST ME?

Richard Hammond’s follow-up to AS YOU DO (2008) chronicles the many indignities of turning 40—from suffering agonizing bouts of kidney stones to realizing that he’s become “the indignant older bloke at the petrol station who shouts at teenagers.” This abridgment follows him in and out of hospital rooms and behind the scenes of “Top Gear” and his other British TV programs. Hammond uses his finely honed presenter skills to great effect—his narration is charming, silly, and self-effacing, and full of plenty of British slang. There’s nothing terribly deep here, and that’s just fine—think of this audiobook as less a memoir and more a series of funny tall tales told over several rounds down at the pub. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2010]