God, If You're Not Up There, I'm F***ed

Starred review from October 3, 2011
Comedian and former Saturday Night Live regular Hammond gained fame in the 90s for his impersonation of Bill Clinton, among others. Although it includes the expected visit to rehab, Hammond's moving memoir contains surprising detours, such as his revelations about cutting himself. The book starts off with a bang: on the first page, Hammond is in rehab after getting drunk and trying to cut his arm off with a kitchen knife. Hammond's breezy style and facile storytelling will keep readers entertained even while reading about his struggle with alcoholism, including the time he attended Clinton's second inauguration, confronted an in-room display of Grand Marnier, and ended up on the floor of the National Airport still in his tuxedo. Hammond's depiction of his Florida childhood shows how the abuse dealt by his parents, especially his mother, resulted in a life of dysfunction, yet also gave him his professionâhe learned to do voices as protection from his mother. This funny man's serious life can be an inspiration to all.

May 15, 2011

Hammond lasted longer than any Saturday Night Live cast member, and here he does go behind the SNL scenes. But he focuses on personal trauma, revealing childhood abuse that led to alcoholism, self-mutilation, and psychiatric hospitalizations until he finally achieved sobriety and a measure of peace. Apparently, he can be bitingly funny about this. With a 75,000-copy first printing; the multiple angles here will attract readers.

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