Have you ever wondered what's going on inside the ambulance screaming past you during your rush-hour commute? Since 2003, Tom Reynolds (writing under an alias so as not to get sacked from his job), has kept a blog where he chronicles the day-in, day-out realities of his life on the job as an EMT with the London Ambulance Service.

By turns both poignant and profound, Reynolds's writing captures the very essence of life and death. From the mundane to the surreal, from the heartwarming to the cynical, from the calm to the frenetic, more than 300 entries from his popular blog at randomreality.blogware.com are included in the book.

Dear Mr. Alcoholic:

Would you mind awfully not swearing at me, taking a swing at me, or exposing yourself to me? I have quite enough abuse from the nondrunks out there. . . . Still, at least your fists are easy to dodge, and if I stop holding you up, you fall over.

The author's hugely popular blog, Random Acts of Reality, has been named Medgadget Best Medical Blog and Best Literary Medical Blog.