Check this. Oh. My. God. I am Top at The Movie411 Awards for Sexiest Female Author. Nothing like being called sexiest when the world is off-kilter and careening out of control. You can vote here for moi, if you so choose, but most importantly just get your fine selves over there and vote for your fave cinegeeks, cinephiles and fellow wicked awesome bloggers. It's a hellagood party.
Hammond has a way with language that just leaves me green with envy. His metaphors are true gems that paint an exact picture without ever straying into the realm of cliché or over use. For instance in Thai Tribulations, one of my favorites, he is on board a vomit comet of a boat in very rough seas, hiding up on deck to keep away from the seasick. He writes “Eventually my bladder asserted itself and I made my way to the conveniences, forgetting that I had to pass through the ‘sick room.’ I took one look. It was a Hogarth etching come to life, a vision Gustave Dore would have been proud to have created… People were lying around groaning on the floor beyond caring what they looked like. I regret to confess that natural compassion escaped me in that moment. I immediately forgot my own physical needs and returned to the deck, profoundly grateful I wasn’t one of them.” Oh God, what an image.
This book is chock full of these hilarious, nightmarish anecdotes that leave you with the dichotomy of wanting to never board a plane and yet, also having the unbearable desire to experience this stuff in person to see if it's real. In short, you have to read this book if you get the chance. For more info on Alex and to read about more of his travels, visit his blog. To purchase Brief(Case) Encounters please go here. You can also purchase his wildly brilliant, Tales From The Edge Of Forever here. Both are also available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions.
