In the corridors of every hospital lurk tales of triumph and tragedy, lives won and lost to the world of medicine. But the complexity of the human psyche cannot be stripped down to mere science. Indeed, it's in this environment—where people remain at their most vulnerable—that the human condition manifests itself the strongest. In these alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking memoirs—most previously published in some of America's best journals, such as Epoch, Boulevard, The Antioch Review, and The Alaska Quarterly Review—author John Gamel shares what he's seen during a lifetime in medicine. These are the stories behind the stories, and with them come the desires, failures, addictions, and frailties that make us who we are.