January 15, 1998 -- Lacking in this autobiographical examination of a "life of drinking" is any sense of whether the writer changed or not. It seems he hasn't. He is the same columnist today that he was when he drank. Perhaps the parts about Brooklyn might excite natives, but for outsiders, Hamill's descriptions of his youth into manhood are tedious and overwrought. While he might capture the flavor of Brooklyn neighborhoods by mentioning street corners and hangouts, he doesn't capture at all the flavor of the times Brooklyn or elsewhere. One item worth noting: to his credit, Mr. Hamill does not preach about his conversion. 

-- Rich Sheppard

"...Hamill's descriptions of his youth into manhood are tedious and overwrought."