An amuse-bouche of a story from Dave Eggers, who serves up his customary humanism in direct, well-crafted prose. ( )

this is actually quite a lovely little short story. (and how nice to be able to just publish it all on its own, but normally i'd rather read a collection.) but anyway, this is a great little reflection on the things we leave behind and what they can mean to others. how something created or dreamed of by one person, can manifest and change, and turn into someone else's dream or creation as well. how sometimes giving up control over something allows it to become something even more. a beautiful little story.

"'If we believe there's a dramatic origin story for every human endeavor, we deprive our species of the ability to simply conjure an idea. To just make stuff and do things.'" ( )

This was a lovely pocket book. Only 40 pages long with generously sized text, I read the whole thing in under 30 minutes.

Oisín, a military veteran in his 70s, attends an enormous family reunion. One planned activity is for him to lead a group of children - his young relatives - on a walk through the hills to a place called The Museum of Rain, which was established by Oisín decades ago and which may or may not still exist. Although Oisín approaches his duty with some trepidation - he fears that the Museum might have fallen into disrepair - he is also eager to see what he will find. In sharing the Museum with the children, Oisín finds poignancy in his memories, life values, and in what it means to leave behind a legacy. ( )