Joe Connelly is an American writer, best known for his first novel, ''Bringing Out the Dead'', which was made into an eponymous film. A native of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, he now lives in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

with his wife and family.

Biography

Connelly was born in St Clare’s Hospital in

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

, where his mother worked and where she had met his father years before (at a dance in the basement). They were working-class, and he was raised in

Warwick, New York Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets ( Amity, Bellvale, Ed ...

. Having secured a scholarship to become the first member of his family to go to college, after three years he dropped out of Colgate University and, before publishing his first novel, worked as a

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

for nine years, back at St. Clare's. He wrote in his spare time over that period, in a small flat in the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

and while living in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and travelling in Eastern Europe for a considerable period. During this time, Connelly was encouraged by a creative writing professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. ''Bringing Out the Dead'' (1998) is autobiographical in nature and follows the story of a paranoid, hollow-eyed paramedic who works the graveyard shift in Hell's Kitchen, the barrio bounding the phantasmagoria of

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. Having seen so much human suffering on the job, the main character of the book, Frank, has turned inwards, despondent to the point of becoming a drunk, his life a living hell. The novel was an immediate bestseller on publication, and was optioned for $100,000, eventually making its way to production as a major motion picture of the same name in 1999. ''

Bringing Out the Dead ''Bringing Out the Dead'' is a 1999 American psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader, based on the novel of the same name by Joe Connelly. It stars Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, V ...

'' was directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

and the screenplay was adapted by Paul Schrader. Though the film was a critical success, it fell short of box office expectations. His second novel, '' Crumbtown'' (2003), didn't sell as well as the first. Although the book's characters were the trademark down-and-out personalities of Connelly's debut novel, he was criticized for relying on well-trodden clichés.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Joe 20th-century American novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Warwick, New York Colgate University alumni 21st-century American novelists Novelists from New York (state) American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American expatriates in Ireland