Hop, Skip and a Jump!: Life: Proceed With Caution

Price: $2.99
(as of May 06, 2024 09:15:18 UTC – Details)

“Poignant, zany, and at times tragic, Hughes’ memoir is a hyper observant travelogue of a life lived in full. A fine reporter with a gift for the mordant turn of phrase, in Hop, Skip, and a Jump Hughes twirls a tale blessed with a wit and style that feels like the result of a one-night stand between P.J. O’Rourke and Dorothy Parker. Proceed With Caution indeed.”
~BOB DRURY, The New York Times Bestselling author of Blood and Treasure and The Heart of Everything That is…

“Throw caution aside and proceed to read this book. True tales that include the likes of Sly Stallone, Meryl Streep, Anthony Hopkins, Frank Sinatra, and at least three beautiful Swedish women — among others — are to be savored. David Richard Hughes has lived a wonderful life and now we get to be part of it.”
~TOM CLAVIN, author of The Last Outlaws

“Move over David Sedaris. First-time author David Hughes will make you laugh out loud in a crowded New York City subway car as he recounts the everyday absurdity, humor, and yes, his heart-warming misadventures surviving the Big Apple during the turbulent 80s. Believe me, it’s a great ride.”
~CYNTHIA FAGEN is a former New York Post reporter, podcaster, and co-author of the non-fiction House of Kennedy with James Patterson.

The events stitched together here took place over the span of 70 years. Their narrative represents the fabric of my life.
I was lucky enough to enjoy and experience everything recorded herein from a prominent front row seat. And suddenly I find myself with an uncanny desire to share the details—the good, the bad, and, often in my case,the ridiculously embarrassing. Early reviews suggest, “why would he include that stuff”?

Well, “that stuff” seemed like a good idea at the time even if – reviewing with the hindsight of decades the many odd, romantic, poignant, and downright crazy decisions I made – the reasons for those choices become much more apparent. In that reflective light, I also became aware why I followed those paths in the first place. I have learned to accept them, appreciate them, and in some cases revel in them.

These are tales of regret, joy, sadness, terror, death, and forgiveness; I have come to realize that infidelity, adultery, and sexual abuse are but milestones to be navigated along with the mine field of high-speed police chases, a paternal suicide, a hitch as a seamen on a high-seas oil tanker, and a smorgasbord of boldface names who have passed through my life: Meryl Streep, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Frank Sinatra, Clive Davis, Lauren Bacall, Kurt Vonnegut, Marlo Thomas, Jason Robards, Tom Snyder, Paul Newman. And, naturally, there are hookers involved as well as a first heart attack at age 50 (in which no hookers are involved).

Today when a nearby individual’s life is threatened, the first reaction of most people is to pull out a cellphone and record a video. Placed in that same situation, I chose to put my own life at risk to save a stranger from certain death. Just saying.

These stories are arranged the way human memory works: random, in spurts, often out of order. In other words, the way we live life. I think you will enjoy them.

David Richard Hughes

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CJG5F46V
Publisher ‏ : ‎ BANG UP PRODUCTIONS LLC (September 19, 2023)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2023
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 782 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages