Surviving My Birthright

The Authorized Version

By: Casey Hammer, Heather McDonald - foreword

Narrated by: Casey Hammer

Revised by the author, Casey Hammer, with additional content. The original Surviving My Birthright has received a facelift and includes a foreword by Heather McDonald, actress, comedian, and host of Juicy Scoop. Reviews are by Edward Jay Epstein, author of Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer, and Lauren Skae, @thezenblonde. Entrepreneur Romi Cortier adds his take on From the Inside Looking Out, a recap of Casey’s life. And lastly, Casey Hammer adds what’s to come and coming soon, featuring her new book Hammertime: Surviving & Thriving, along with poetry throughout.

The name Armand Hammer conjures up many aspirational ideals. Billionaire. Industrialist. Successful businessman. Philanthropist. Art collector. It sounds like the idealized American success story. However, the reality of growing up Hammer had a very dark side, with very real consequences.

Violence. Addiction. Abuse. These are just some of the realities that Casey Hammer, the only granddaughter of Armand Hammer, had to overcome. As dark as her recollections are, Casey is the embodiment of courage and strength. She weathered the storm and came out stronger on the other side. Hers is a story of survival, hope, and inspiration. Lift the veil and see the realities of growing up Hammer.

©2021 Casey Hammer (P)2022 Casey Hammer

A disappointment

For such an interesting family, why was it read in such a dull, monotone way? It almost seemed like they released a rough draft. Very unpleasant listen. I’m disappointed because I I was quite looking forward to this audiobook.

Courageous, well written

Casey Hammer tells her story well, and with courage.
While the writing is good, the editing needs some work. This book is a great example of how book editing is more than just spelling and punctuation. The structure overall hurts the storytelling - readers are pummeled for the first half with the abuse abs dysfunction Casey had to endure, with little biographical narrative until the second half. This leaves the reader confused about many aspects of her life, and even though they get cleared up, it hampers understanding early on. There are also - maybe because of this structural choice - repeats of blocks of exposition (the move to Washington as a child, for instance). There are also references readers seem expected to understand - like Armand Hammer’s books, as well as Edward Epstein’s book. She mentions she doesn’t care what the book says, she was just happy to be mentioned. As a reader, I want to hear what the title was, what the author’s full name was, and one sentence at least about what the book was about. There are also several references to people who aren’t identified abs it’s not clear who they are or why they matter.
Tightening up of the many passages in which the author muses on her feelings, affirmations and epiphanies would have given those more oomph. Many went on and on, it were repetitive. This isn’t to trivialize those passages, but trimming them and being more selective would hold readers’ attention better.
One jarring note is when she’s describing the negatives about her “step monster,” she includes “black.” I had to replay it four times to make sure I heard that right. If I didn’t, I apologize. While it’s not inappropriate to mention her race, context is important. Including it in a litany that begins with “that’s why I describe her as…” and had things like “gold digger,” “stripper,” and “met in an adult bookstore,” sends a message that the author probably didn’t intend. A little earlier in that chapter she writes that the stepmother’s family is “Southern Baptist” and so Julian’s funeral was probably the big event of their life. I was confused (as someone from a northern secular state) as to what that meant - I assumed it had something to do with the religion, but it didn’t really tell me anything. After the reference to Jean’s race, it felt like a negative coded reference to race. Casey seems like a nice person and a tolerant one, but sone close editing would’ve made sure that readers don’t infer that kind of meaning.
As far as the audio goes, it’s listenable, but in the first half there are about a dozen instances of a line being repeated - an audio editing issue someone should’ve caught,
I recommend this book for the important story it tells, and the person who shines through, who readers get to know and care for.
I am a writer and former book editor and other readers sometimes tell me I’m too picky. My response is that even if readers aren’t aware of structural and other issues, it affects their absorption of the book. Even the best writers need good, strong editing to make their story as powerful as possible.
I would’ve loved to see a closer and tighter edit that would give this very good and important story its full power.

Not Good

Struggled to listen to this book. Don't waste your money to listen to the woe is me story. Fortunately in the very end she admits all people are responsible for building the life they desire. While inheritance is nice, no parents owe you anything.

interesting story BUT

The book is in severe need of editing. So many sloppy errors in continuity, chronology and repetitions. Its a shame as it truly IS interesting.

very repetitive ....

This book was a struggle for me to finish. Over and over the author says she is confused, then she is not, she never receives love, then she does receive love, than she does not. She is forever grateful to someone and then then can not forgive them. It left me questioning every word she said. Very disappointed.

Average

The topic is interesting. However, the writing is not cohesive. It seems all over the place which makes it hard to keep track.

The author may not have been the best choice to narrate. She has a great voice, it just didn’t fit.

I know the author is not a writer by profession. It was great to hear her story and it could help others. For that, it is good. However, how the story is written is not strong.

Story repeats and anti-climactic

I had recently watched the Army Hammer documentary and came to this book through something with that. I was interested in getting additional background information. There were numerous times that I had to check to see if I was listening to the same chapter again because the content was Virtually if not exactly the same as previous chapters. I kept waiting for the author to have a revelation about the family behavior. I understand trauma like that is hard to deal with but it was difficult to listen to her repeatedly going back and so desperately hanging onto those relationships that were so detrimental to her.

fascinating story

and it's interested in her story and looking forward to hearing it. no doubt that all of these things happened to her here's my issue, the production value sucked and I feel like even Casey needed some guidance it felt like she was reading these things for the first time and there were constant times where I heard the same sentence over and over feeling like whoever produced it did not pay much attention.

Repeated sentences

I really wanted to finish this book but in every chapter sentences were repeated. Couldn’t concentrate on the story.

I was excited to read.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish it due to the performance.And there were several parts where it repeats.