It's a memoir by a lady who worked as a railroad switchyard "brakeman." I think I picked up this book because someone recommended her writing about caboose cars. (A Ted Conover article? Vasona Branch blog? Someone who writes about railstuff, but I didn't note down who.) Update: It was Vasona Branch. She writes well about that and about maneuvering big ol' freight cars in modern switchyards (with a glossary at the back which I wish I'd known about sooner). If you liked Wild, you might like this book…it's another tale of an addict who chooses a dangerous life because she figures it will force her to stay off drugs or die. And this job is dangerous—the equipment is massive and not super-safe and maybe your co-workers are new at this too and maybe some of them are angry enough such that they don't mind if you get crushed by equipment. So yeah, the story gets intense in places.