I loved this book for its clarity and insights. Amsterdam always gives me reasons to think about issues, even after I've finished the book. The end-of-life choices and scenarios are well-rendered, and the characters are delicious. Depending on who you are, you might want to skip some of the more detailed sex scenes - I wasn't really reading the book for those, and would have rated it higher without, as I was much more interested in the euthanasia themes. But I highly, highly recommend this book. ( )

Assisted dying.......
I have strong views on the way we treat the terminally sick and would definitely be in favour of some type of controlled euthanasia for those who are suffering. In many cases we are more humane to animals than people.
When I had the opportunity to review this book I was hoping for something that advocated my views, and while this novel does appear to support euthanasia, I found the book itself a bit slow and more of a list of people who chose to end their own lives than a thesis supporting the right to do so, albeit in novel form.

The author is a palliative care nurse in Melbourne, so he writes from a position of some experience. Whilst assisted dying isn't legal in Australia, he proposes a measure, which he calls Measure 961, allowing sick patients to be monitored while they sip a fatal dose of Nembutal. In the novel, Measure 961 is surrounded by the inevitable red tape and all procedures are carefully monitored and recorded on video. Evan finds that overseeing this process gives him satisfaction and he supports his patients' right to choose.

I wasn't quite sure why the author chose to make Evan homosexual, and the descriptions of his sex life with a gay couple were rather unnecessary in my view.
His mother is a wonderful feisty lady who pretty much left him to raise himself, but who is now living in a care home with all the frustrating realities that entails. She suffers from Parkinson's disease and is deteriorating. The question hovers as to whether Evan might eventually help her to end her life and the outcome to that question is interesting.

A brave subject for a novel. I hope others will follow suit and trigger more discussion on the topic. ( )

Evan is a 32 year old single man who works at a public hospital with a program for suicide assistance. Although, obviously, not called that.
Brought up by his feisty mother Viv, after his father drives over a cliff when Evan was six, Viv is hospitalised with Parkinson's disease. Evan considers himself well suited to the work, but after an episode with a patient in which Evan "assists " a little too much and is subsequently fired. He's contacted by a group called Jasper's Path who undertake the same sort of work minus the medical regulations - oh, yes, and for profit.
Viv has bought her Nembutal and expects Evan to help her out, literally. He loves Viv but is in a quandary when it applies to his own mother. This is not a morbid read; Amsterdam writes movingly and with a wry sense of humour. ( )

There are, as I write, renewed efforts to introduce legislation in Victoria that would allow assisted suicide, but I don’t suppose that Steven Amsterdam or his publishers knew when they signed their contracts just how topical this book was going to be. The Easy Way Out is a confronting exploration of what assisted suicide might mean for anyone involved. The title is ironic: in the world created by Amsterdam, even though assisted suicide is legal, there is no easy way out…

Narrated with a kind of sardonic intimacy as if Amsterdam is not going to indulge any sentimental views about death, the novel traces a trajectory as Evan, a nurse who has chosen work as a suicide assistant, tests the boundaries of the law. Working in the confines of the Mercy hospital where every ‘assist’ is monitored and documented and scrutinised afterwards, Evan finds it hard to stay as detached as he is supposed to. Families don’t always follow the script, and the ‘simple’ act of drinking a cup of Nembutal isn’t always so simple for someone with muscles that don’t obey any more. And it’s not just that procedures don’t allow for human frailty, there’s also the psychological impact on Evan to consider. He doesn’t tell people what he does because not everyone shares his view that he is helping people to die a good death. Crucially, he doesn’t tell his lovers Lon and Simon.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/09/28/the-easy-way-out-by-steven-amsterdam/ ( )