You Pray for Dry Weather at the Sight of the Sun: A Strand Essay

Picked this up because I'm a freak who loves books about books, and I thought I might also like a book about a game. I've read a few of Osborne's novels with occasionally mixed results, which left me completely unprepared for how much I enjoyed this. It's partially a look at Death Stranding, with some interesting meditations on the game, Hideo Kojima, etc. But--similar to something from Boss Fight Books or the Bookmarked series--this book is actually about the author. And, in this case, that's a very good thing.In Death Stranding, you play as a man wandering vast, destroyed landscapes with a test-tube baby strapped to his chest. In real life, Osbourne plays a stay-at-home father in his mid 30s, struggling with a feeling of deep uncertainty and weariness towards (almost) everything. This book is about the intersection between the two: how caring for this imaginary child somehow brought him closer to his own, and--maybe--to himself, and the whole thing is just beautiful and gorgeous to read.I'm reminded a little of Knausgaard's My Struggle, which I'm also reading right now. Both books are somber meditations on the monotony of life and raising a family, though where Knausgaard is a master of traditional narration and fully fleshed out scenes, Osbourne's book is a collection of fragments, these glorious little micro-essays so perfectly stripped down it makes you wonder why anyone would write another way. It's not the thoughts themselves which make the book so amazing: these aren't, like, new or revolutionary insights. But the writing is so utterly effortless, clean and smooth that I sprinted through these fifty pages with a dopey, drugged smile on my face. After reading this, I don't care what Osborne writes about next: I already know I'm interested in reading it, and it also makes me curious to go back and check out some of his older work that I missed.Anyway, I picked this up expecting a pleasant little diversion. Instead, it'll likely be one of the best things I read this year. And the funny thing is: after 20 years as an MGS fan, I beat Death Stranding, and finished resenting the game for many of the reasons Osbourne likes it. The game reminds me a lot of life, with its endless gauntlet of monotonous tasks that need to be completed; and like life, it doesn't necessarily have a great reward waiting for you at the end. But this book gives a useful lens to appreciate the game and highlights how bold Kojima's design really was.

This really took me by surprise in a good way. Part video game "review", part philosophical musing on connection, and part a touching letter to his son, J. David Osborne has composed a really nice piece of writing here that will make you think. Highly recommended!

JDO is one of my favorite writers (and podcasters with Kelby Losack). Death Stranding is my favorite game of the last ten years or so. I'm also a dad of a 9 year old, but I remember that first year like it was yesterday. I didn't think there was any other outcome than enjoyment, but there's a lot to unpack in this and I'm excited to revisit it later on.

Somehow forgot to review this earlier this year.Osborne's meditation on fatherhood is well worth your time even if you have no interest in videogames. I've never played Death Stranding, for example, and I loved this. The game is just a tool, ultimately, for Osborne to understand himself and his changing role in life, and so it's also a metaphor used to explain himself to us, the reader.Short and punchy with each chapter focusing tightly on a single idea, this essay has the potential to spin off and never tie itself back together, but that chapter 30, man.It's killer. The kind of page and a half that makes you feel almost drunk it's so good.Anyrate, he does here what I've been trying to accomplish on my substack when writing about games, so this book was sort of made for me.

The most refreshing and original voice in indie publishing decided to go in a refreshing and original place, who would've thought?A 49 pages-long essay on fatherhood, connection and a video game I've never played delivered in a series of short aphorisms, You Pray for Dry Weather at the Sight of the Sun is about two things: purpose and connection. It's a little about loneliness too, but the good kind. Not the one that makes you suffer. In this essay, J. David Osborne explains how the birth of his son gave him a sense of connection with his own body, the world around him, people that exist in his memory and even people that don't exist at all. Ultimately, it's a testament to how art creates relationships between people and help you see your life and your path with more clarity.Why would anyone who's not a middle-aged, internet-dwelling dweeb read this? While it does make more sense if you're already convinced that J. David Osborne is an interesting dude who walks to the sound of his own drum, it's a great exercise in finding purpose in a hypermediated world. I, myself has found solace in things and art rather than people and Osborne finds himself connecting with a video game while the purpose of his life is solely not to think about himself. This was predictably great, but J. David Osborne will not come forward with anything less. Dude has standards.

I've been a big fan of J David Osborne's fiction since reading the first of his Black Gum books a few years ago, and I subsequently devoured the next two (A Minor Storm and Tomahawk) as well as the excellent Blood and Water. Osborne is a dab hand at creating rich, resonant stories by way of some of the most beautifully crafted minimalist prose, which bleeds authenticity and conjures a distinct sense of place. (His piece about Oklahoma, published on Nicolas Winding Refn's website, bynwr.com, is also superb, and well worth tracking down).You Pray For Dry Weather is a non-fiction essay that draws together various strands from Osborne's world: gaming, fatherhood, memories of his youth, and the way we interact with our surroundings (both real and virtual). Osborne is an articulate, urbane writer, wise beyond his years, and this is a swift, easy read that nevertheless provokes a powerful emotional response and leaves you to consider the true importance of those small and seemingly insignificant moments of which our lives are mostly comprised. Highly recommended.

This is not just a great companion piece to Death Stranding, but also a wonderful meditation on fatherhood and the value of process.Both literary and heartfelt in a way that very little writing about games manages to be.

Don’t usually buy these types of books but this was just awesome to read!Would definitely recommend 👍

Heartfelt, vulnerable, and about a video game. I’d love to see more books like this. Really unusual. I loved it!