The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride is a 2018 novel by American writer Joe Siple. It is Siple’s debut novel, though he has since published four others, including one direct sequel, The Final Wish of Mr. Murray McBride. Siple’s book tells the story of Murray McBride, a 100-year-old man who develops an unlikely friendship with a 10-year-old boy, Jason Cashman. Jason is in dire need of a heart transplant, and Murray tries to help him accomplish a list of five wishes before Jason dies. Along the way, Murray and Jason explore the importance of selflessness and human connection with the help of Jason’s friend, Tiegan Atherton.

This guide uses the 2018 Black Rose Writing e-book edition of the novel.

Content Warning: This book includes discussions of suicide, abuse, and child death.

Plot Summary

Jason Cashman is 30 years old and about to perform a magic show. His biographer asks how he became interested in magic, and Jason agrees to give a brief interview before the show. The narrative begins 20 years earlier, in 1997. It is Murray McBride’s 100th birthday. His wife, Jenny, died 18 months ago, and since then, he has struggled to find a reason to live. He takes one pill each day to keep his lungs from filling with fluid; otherwise, he is very healthy. He goes to the doctor for his annual physical, and the doctor tells him that if he does not find a reason to live, he will die “sad and alone” (22). Murray decides it is time for him to die; he will not take his pill the next morning. 

Wanting to do a good deed on his last day, he visits a hospital in hopes of volunteering. There, he meets a boy, Jason Cashman, who is playing a video game. Murray tries to join him, but the technology frustrates him. He finds Jason rude, but he feels sorry for him because he uses an oxygen mask and is very ill. Jason’s father, Benedict, arrives and hurries Jason away; in the rush, Jason leaves a piece of paper behind. On it, he has written five wishes to fulfill before he dies: kiss a girl on the lips, hit a home run in a baseball stadium, get his mother a boyfriend, be a superhero, and do real magic. Murray is moved and decides to help make Jason’s wishes come true. 

At home, Murray’s grandson, Chance, gives him an email machine. The two have a tense relationship, and Murray has no interest in using the machine. After Chance leaves, Murray heads to church. He tells his priest about Jason’s wishes, and the priest helps him track down Jason’s contact information and send him an email. That evening, Murray models for a life drawing class, which he does not enjoy. He connects with a young man, Collins Jackson, who is also modeling. Once Murray gets Jason’s address, he drives over even though he has not driven in years and no longer has a license. Jason’s father is dismissive. Murray, who played for the Chicago Cubs as a young man, takes Jason to a baseball stadium. They discuss Jason’s wishes, and Murray formulates a plan to help Jason kiss a girl.

Murray goes to his attic and reminisces about his baseball career, which often took him away from his family. He regrets not telling his two sons, both dead, that he loved them more, and he misses Jenny. On the day of the kiss, Murray picks Jason up from his mother Anna’s house. There, he meets Jason’s neighbor, 10-year-old Tiegan, and her mother, Della. He brings Jason to a high school cheerleading practice, where Jason tricks one of the cheerleaders into kissing him. Murray and Jason start brainstorming how to make his other wishes come true. Murray visits Jason at the hospital after one of his treatments, where he meets Tiegan again. Although she is not sick, she develops her own list of five wishes, which include riding in a convertible and raising a million dollars for people who are unhoused. Tiegan is enthusiastic about baseball.

Murray goes to Anna’s house for dinner; Tiegan and Della also join. An unexpected man shows up: Jason has set his mother up on a date without telling her. The evening goes poorly. Later, Murray asks Benedict’s permission to take Jason to Chicago to fulfill his home-run wish. Benedict refuses. Murray models for the art class again, and Jason and Tiegan attend with their mothers. Anna and Collins flirt. Murray and Jason meet to play video games, and Jason asks Murray difficult questions about death. Late at night, Murray drives by Jason’s house and picks him up. Tiegan tags along, and the three of them drive to Chicago, where the Cubs have set up an apartment for Murray at his request. Murray plans to help Jason hit a home run the next morning, but rain forces him to delay his plans by a day. Instead, the three of them discuss death, play video games, and ride the L train. At dinner, a news broadcast says that Jason and Tiegan have been kidnapped. When some boys tease Tiegan in the street, Jason punches one of them, fulfilling his wish to be a superhero.

The next day, Murray brings the kids to Wrigley Field. Jason hits a home run (after a few tries and with help from the Cubs), but he collapses as he rounds the bases. Jason is taken to the hospital, and Murray is arrested for kidnapping. Chance posts his bail, and the two reconcile. Murray learns that he cannot visit Jason; Benedict has asked for a restraining order against him. Defeated, Murray returns home. He attends another art class and asks Collins to visit Jason and give him one of Murray’s prized baseball cards. Collins agrees; he and Anna have started a relationship, fulfilling another of Jason’s wishes. Murray goes to Benedict’s house and confronts him. After Benedict gets angry and knocks Murray over, he apologizes and agrees to lift the restraining order. Anna calls and tells Murray that Jason is dying; without a new heart, he could have only hours or days remaining.

Murray rushes to Jason’s hospital. He wants to save Jason’s life, so he does not take his pill in the hopes that he will die and doctors will give Jason his heart. They resuscitate him; his heart is too big for Jason’s chest in any case. Murray learns that he is dying of cancer. He tells Jason that by being his friend, Jason gave him a reason to live. That gift of friendship is real magic, so all Jason’s wishes have come true. As Murray is dying and barely maintaining consciousness, Anna tearfully tells him that Jason has received a heart transplant and that he will survive. In the book’s last chapter, a now-adult Jason tells his biographer that Tiegan died in a car crash just outside the hospital, and Della agreed to donate her heart to Jason. He has spent the last 20 years performing magic shows to fulfill Tiegan’s wish of raising a million dollars for people who need housing, and tonight, he will reach his goal. Anna, Collins, and Della arrive and wish him luck just before he steps on stage.