Down from Troy: A Doctor Comes of Age Book

When I read the first of Selzer's books I encountered, 'Confessions of a Knife', I noted in my review that I wouldn't read another by him unless recommended by a friend. Time perhaps makes that memory fade, as this book sounded intriguing when I found it at the book exchange at work. One of my beefs with Selzer then was that he tended to venture off on tangents unrelated to his job as a surgeon. Being that this was a memoir of his time spent in Troy, NY and not meant to be focused on his job, the tangents felt more acceptable, though they were undoubtedly still present.
Much of this book focuses on Selzer's relationship with his father, also a surgeon, who practiced in the family home as well as hospital rounds during the Depression but passed away when Selzer was 12. It was apparently a battle between his parents regarding whether Selzer would go into medicine or literature studies, with the well-read Richard intending to follow his mother's wishes until the death of his father, at which point he realizes the only way he can understand why he lost his dad is to figure out how the body works and what makes things go haywire in there.
Even after Selzer has grown and moved on with his life, he still visits Troy on occasion, though he finds that things are different with each visit, as time marches on. He returns to a cemetery, which he first visited with his father, because as a child the large on-site crematory interested him, but he never learned what went on behind its doors. Another time, after Selzer has retired to devote his time to writing, he arrives at the request of a fellow doctor, who is dying of AIDS and wants Selzer's help to end his suffering. AIDS was unfathomable in the era in which most of the book takes place, as is assisted suicide, and while Selzer adapts to the changes AIDS brings about, he finds himself ethically unable to help the man die.
It is fitting that the book came full circle, in that Selzer discusses his decision to pursue medicine over literature as a young child, yet retires from his medical position to become a celebrated author, recognized equally as his father's son, a doctor in his own right, and a writer of books.