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.