Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs centers around the experience of Gil. He is a humble, likeable man. His parents died in a car crash when he was young. He was raised in humble circumstances by his grandmother. He was then exposed to his great wealth. He never had to work in his life. Instead, he has spent his time volunteering. He was in one fairly long term relationship. However, she left him suddenly for another guy. At one time he wanted to get rid of all his money, but he was talked out of it.

This is all his backstory. The book starts with his. He decided to walk from New York to Arizona. He bought a house there to live. Shortly after, a family moved in next door to the "glass house". After some time, they brought a pie over. They became friends and he became involved in their lives.

The story continues on his experiences with love, friendship and challenges. He really does try to help others to be their best selves. He has few friends, but becomes helpful in their lives. He becomes a secondary father figure to their neighbor boy (even while being friends with the parents). He learns of the bullying that the boy is suffering from and helps end it. Later he even reaches out to the bully when he sees he may be being abused by his father.

One day the drunk driver that killed his parents reaches out. He apologizes and asks for money. Later he passes on details of how the incident occurred. This became too much for Gil. However, Gil did (against the lawyer's advice) give money to the money. This didn't last long as the man soon succumbed to his illness.

Gil has other experiences. He speaks at the funeral from a friend (who died donating a kidney to his wife). He enters into a relationship with a doctor. He helps out a young birder that he has volunteered with. He is just an overall good guy that has some challenges, but doesn't let them get him down.

I do find it interesting I ended up with two "car crash" books in a row. I wonder if I had some references from a book about cars. (Or was it just pure chance.)