Lowell's girlfriend has left him, his boss has betrayed him, his life seems narrow and bleak. He wants out. And things just seem to keep going downhill for him. As his life unravels, he finds himself entangled with two unlikely, raucous (not to mention larcenous) characters who take him on a detour of distractions, disruptions, and disturbances. In the process, he reflects on living, learning, love, literature, and more, from the vantage point of a freight train barreling across the Midwest. From the book: "You can't just summon up faith or hope, but you can search for, and perhaps find, meaning--a certain clarity--in your experience of suffering. Meaning might impart hope, or at least the ability to cope with suffering, which might be the same thing."
