Truck: On Rebuilding a Worn-Out Pickup and Other Post-Technological Adventures (Paperback)

~ (Author) "PROBLEM: Hauling horseshit for the garden one barrelful at a time is a depressingly inefficient system..." (more)
Key Phrases: basic truck, timing chain cover, running truck, New Hampshire, Harry Truman, New England (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"This readable book tells of the author's experience finding and lovingly rebuilding, a broken-down pickup truck, partly for the pleasure of the task, partly for ecological reasons, and mainly to have a dependable and practical vehicle" (LJ 1/1/77). Jerome's purpose, along with offering mechanical instruction, is to impart a bit of philosophy regarding nature and the value of work well done. "An enjoyable and informative book."
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

...not so much about automotive mechanics as it is about mind and matter . . . About obsession and compulsion, joy and doubt, rage and forgiveness. -- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 155 pages
• Publisher: UPNE; 1st edition (April 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874517559
• ISBN-13: 978-0874517552
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #296,999 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rusted parts, winter cold, and a dash of philosophy, October 16, 1999

By	"mxbreed" (Elizabethtown, PA United States) - See all my reviews

My copy is well-used, for I never tire of returning to Jerome's world. The author gets his old 1950s Dodge not to restore (he calls restorers 'nuts'), but simply to haul junk. Thumbing his nose at technology, Jerome undertakes the mechanical rebuilding of a simple truck from a simpler time, hoping it will sync with his vision of rural New England life. The book is an education about engines, removing rusted parts, junkyard hunting (hilarious and the best part of the book) with occasional but unobtrusive forays into questioning 'progress'. We feel the cold of winter as he works on the dirt floor of the barn, feel the heat radiating from the woodstove, feel the speckle of penetrating oil on our faces as he whacks away hopelessly at the kingpins. And when it's all back together, we share in his disappointment when it doesn't run (at first) and his juvenile glee when it does (much hand-wringing later). The story parallels what happens every winter in garages across the nation, as amateurs attempt to rescue old vehicles from the dead. This book is a classic, and I'm glad it's still available.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A funny and engaging book about trucks and more., March 4, 1999

By A Customer

Jerome's "Truck" is a funny and entertaining book about rebuilding an old truck and the soul searching that ensues in the process. It is similar to Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," but not quite as serious or self-conscious. But, it does have the same form of being about adventures in the mechanical world while really being about something else. Jerome's book is actually about trucks, but at the same time it is about life in rural New England, our relationship to the modern world, and just about anything else that comes to his mind on a given day. His randomness is refreshing because it is more real. Jerome can be a little judgmental at times and is a little bit on the naïve-liberal side, but not in the "suburban soccer mom" way of more recent rural immigrants. But, he is rarely preachy and the book is one of the few honest accounts of life in rural New England.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderfuly descriptive book, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This is a great book. I have fixed a 1950 FARGO and I loved his book but.... the language could get cleaned up be for the kids see the book. This is otherwise great stuff.