Evacuation Plan: A Novel from the Hospice

By Joe M. O'Connell

Welcome to the world of hospice where no one talks about the weather or other trivialities. Enter Matt, a fledgling screenwriter who volunteers to work with the terminally ill in exchange for a good... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974070386
• ISBN13: 9780974070384
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Dalton Pub
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Angels are eavesdropping

You are in a hospice, and Rod Serling walks in and asks you to tell him a story. If you had to pick one event out of your life to tell him about, what would it be? Evacuation Plan, by Texas writer Joe M. O'Connell, is a collection of stories told to the novel's protagonist, Matt, who is a screenwriter working in a hospice so he can collect material. The occupants of the hospice -- dying residents, their family members, and the hospice staff -- are like the tattoos of Ray Bradbury's Illustrated Man, each one offering a tale that stands out in their lives. Like the loser who stares at himself in childhood pictures until the pictures come to life. Or the guy who gambled his wife in a game of Monopoly at his murderer father's Christian home for the deranged. Or how fate undid the fate of a young unwed father-to-be. These are stories of reflection, of the best day in one's life, the worst day, the turning points, and the close calls, some joyous, some sad, some bizarre. Not the stuff one would discuss on a first date or a job interview. The surreal atmosphere of the hospice, where angels might be eavesdropping, drops the guard of the storytellers, and sincerity prevails. Evacuation Plan is both entertaining and thought provoking, and it is a wonderful book.

A matter of life and death

Does how you live your life reveal how you will deal with your death? If life is for the living and death is for the dying, then somewhere in between must be hospice. Aspiring screenwriter Matt volunteers at a local hospice facility in search of a good story for his screenplay. What he discovers is that the stories of peoples' lives, like memories drifting in the ether, haunt the halls and rooms like the music from the violinist who plays for the residents. While the architect Mr. Wright and his family's story is the focal point of Matt's attention, the reader also peers almost voyeuristically into the past lives of everyone he encounters. There's the guy in the hall who screwed up his life so miserably all he has left to look forward to his taking over his dying mother's house. The mortician who lost everything before he even knew what he had. The male nurse who watched his sister die from a broken heart. O'Connell weaves the characters' stories together to create an intimate mosaic that reveals how we are all connected by the mysteries of life and death. In Matt's dream the banjo player jokes, "Know the difference between death and an electric eel? People aren't afraid to talk about electric eels." In "Evacuation Plan", death is as much a character as it is a resident at the hospice. But this book is no funereal dirge. Instead, O'Connell has employed masterful storytelling skills to compose an achingly captivating symphony from all these life stories that could very possibly change the way you view your own life - and death.

A Riveting, gentle, but honest Evacuation Plan

Evacuation Plan by Joe O'Connell was a riveting read, but in a natural, unforced way that, very much like life itself, draws us into the suspense and wonder of everyday things and everyday people facing great struggles in courageous ways. This book is gentle, deep, and meaningful, weaving together the lives (and deaths) of many diverse characters in a merciful, but painfully honest search for answers to life, death, love, family, hope, disappointment, and watching your parents die. It was very hard for me to put this book down. It carries us through the deepest meaning in life and most painful, most hopeful memories for a wide range of fascinating characters. Based in a hospice, this book could have easily resorted to cheap sensationalism, or whacked us upside the head with stereotypic melodrama, but instead it was respectful, honest, and tender. The characters will stay with you - you may even recognize some of them within your own life.

A terrific Read

Death is not a topic that most people like to talk about or write about. It makes us uncomfortable, but Joe M. OConnell puts that discomfort aside and brings us a book that is sometimes poignant and sometimes irreverent, but always entertaining. Matt, a screenwriter, volunteers in a hospice so he can meet people and gather material for a story worthy of film. Will he write about old Mr. Wright, dying of cancer? Or perhaps his son. Or maybe his daughter. Then, too, there is the nurse and her story. What Matt discovers is that everyone's life stands for something, and how well we have lived may have some bearing on how well we leave this world. Written in a series of stories, with all the characters loosely connected through the hospice, the book is as much about the living as the dying. It is written with grace and humor, and the characters are compelling. I was a bit surprised that the book was not focused more on the journey of death, but then I realized at the end that we are all on that journey from the moment we are born.

It Takes Your Breath Away

I didnt want the book to end. Having lost my own mother recently in a hospice I was hesitant about reading this book. However the truly wonderful feelings one can have seeing your loved one slip to a most beautiful place was brought back to me reading Mr. O'Connells words. I was so moved by his words I plan to recommend this wonderful piece of work to the priest who oversees the volunteers who grace the halls of Hopewell House in Portland, Oregon. Thank you for your incredible book.