Cover of Incurable Gifts by Jim O'Connell. The art shows an EEG line that becomes the ribbon wrapping a gift box. The subtitle reads "My weepy, wobbly, wonderful life with Parkinson's."

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“It’s a great collection of vignettes from Jim’s life interspersed with nothing-held-back looks at how Parkinson’s has changed his life. … Jim uses his Irish storytelling talents to great effect.”
Axios.com
“Readers of these essays will find them authentic, humorous, witty, self-deprecating, and sometimes profound. I highly recommend this collection of heartfelt personal essays for all readers, those with Parkinson's or not. It's just great stuff.”
Amazon Customer
“Out of the disease’s pain and fatigue and diminishment O’Connell pulls universal truths applicable to any of us. And he does it without self-pity and with wry humor.”
Amazon Customer
“The essays in Incurable Gifts range from the heartbreaking to the inspiring to the hilarious, all told with a marvelously honest voice. The book is sure to be valuable to those recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s or some other crippling disease (or anyone close to such a patient), but the courage and inspiration that shines through is equally valuable to the healthy.”
Amazon Customer
“Jim O'Connell's oral history style memoir is 155 pages of raw, honest, sometimes funny, sometimes moving, always truthful stories about what happens in life when life takes a turn, takes from you, and then asks what you're going to do about it.”
Amazon Customer

20 Years in the Making

“Incurable Gifts” is a book that defies every expectation we have about memoirs of illness. It is not a story of suffering—it's a masterclass in finding grace where none should exist. With prose that alternates between laugh-out-loud funny and quietly devastating, Jim O'Connell chronicles his 20-year journey with Parkinson's disease, transforming what could have been a tale of decline into something far more profound: a meditation on what it means to truly live. This is a book about falling down—literally and figuratively—and finding unexpected gifts in the wreckage. It's about learning that courage isn't only running into burning buildings like his firefighter father did, but sometimes just getting out of bed. It's about discovering that the worst thing that happens to you might also teach you everything you need to know about what matters.

Photo of Jim O'Connell

About Jim

Jim O’Connell is a veteran journalist whose career spanned more than three decades at leading newspapers and Bloomberg News. He specialized in politics, government, and feature writing. When his struggle with Parkinson’s forced him into early retirement, O’Connell turned to essays, chronicling his life, career, and family with candor and humor. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and two sons.