Jimmy McCarthy's Truck

Jimmy McCarthy's Truck is a story about Frank and Alice; two people whose relationship is borne of age-related illnesses and Kelly and Jimmy whose lives become intertwined while caring for them. Through Dr. Steven Payne the author gives insight into the training rewards and tribulations of a general surgeon practicing at a community hospital.For the author Jimmy's truck presents a metaphor for the journey and evening trains for destinations unknown. Naturalist and writer Jack Phillips offered that freedom and wildness are found by a particular way of walking that Thoreau refers to as 'sauntering' which is not walking for exercise or to reach a destination neither is it aimless. The journeys in this book don't take the characters far from where they are first seen as they saunter through the ever-changing often difficult terrain they encounter.The terrain covered in this book includes a diverse cast of characters with a menagerie of illnesses and life stories. It attempts to give insight into the care given them and is a tribute to the characters themselves and to those who care for them.