Martin Preib is an officer in the Chicago Police Department&;a beat cop whose first assignment as a rookie policeman was working on the wagon that picks up the dead. Inspired by Preib&;s daily life on the job, The Wagon and Other Stories from the City chronicles the outer and inner lives of both a Chicago cop and the city itself. The book follows Preib as he transports body bags, forges an unlikely connection with his female partner, trains a younger officer, and finds himself among people long forgotten&;or rendered invisible&;by the rest of society. Preib recounts how he navigates the tenuous labyrinths of race and class in the urban metropolis, such as a domestic disturbance call involving a gang member and his abused girlfriend or a run-in with a group of drunk yuppies. As he encounters the real and imagined geographies of Chicago, the city reveals itself to be not just a backdrop, but a central force in his narrative of life and death. Preib&;s accounts, all told in his breathtaking prose, come alive in ways that readers will long remember.