Anthony Doerr in The Missouri Review

(An update from the airport--en route to Western China, Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila....)

The latest issue of The Missouri Review showcases work from a number of talented writers. But in my mind, the most notable piece in this issue is the essay from Boise-based fiction writer Anthony Doerr, "Nine Times (Among Countless Others) I've Thought About the People Who Came Before Us in My Brief Career as a Father," which in its seemingly simple present-tense narration recounts nine quick scenes with his young twin boys.

There's the trip to Italy, and summer camp, and all the things you'd expect, but with a hearty portion of charm and wit.

It's all good fun really until the penultimate scene, which, without any warning, grabs you by the throat and twists hard, as the young boys' camp counselor and his own three-year-old son are struck in a head-on collision and instantly killed. Doerr is left to ask all the counterfactual questions, the what-ifs and whys, but in ways that feel fresh.

The essay winds down with a touch of revelation:

When you watch your kids begin to grow up, you cannot help but feel your impermanence more acutely; you cannot help but see how you are one link in a very long chain of parents and children, and that the best you have ever done and ever will do is to extend that chain, to be a part of something greater than yourself. That's really what it means to be a father--to be continually reminded that you are taking part in something much larger than your own terrifyingly short life.

Lovely, no? Looking forward to reading more of Anthony Doerr, whose fiction has been widely published.