The Ocean is Everyone's But It Is Not Yours

The Forgetters

by Dave Eggers

In The Ocean Is Everyone’s But It Is Not Yours (the sixth short story in Dave Eggers’s Forgetters series of standalone hardcover minibooks), Aurora Mahoney runs one of three whale-watching businesses on the Monterey coast. It’s a life of great beauty, wonder and camaraderie, but after one of her fellow captains retires, a new, and decidedly different, sort of captain takes his place. What had been a simple and charmed life is clouded by a sinister, and yet aloof, new force on the waterfront. This is a page-turning examination of what makes a paradise, and how easily one human can destroy it.

Published in a pocket-sized hardcover with stunning cover art by Annie Dills, The Ocean Is Everyone’s But It Is Not Yours is available this March exclusively to McSweeney’s readers and subscribers, and in independent bookstores everywhere this summer.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

72 pages, Hardcover

Published August 5, 2025

About the author

Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is best known for his 2000 memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is also the founder of several notable literary and philanthropic ventures, including the literary journal Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, the literacy project 826 Valencia, and the human rights nonprofit Voice of Witness. Additionally, he founded ScholarMatch, a program that connects donors with students needing funds for college tuition. His writing has appeared in numerous prestigious publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine.

Reviews

[Hayley Chwazik-Gee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella packed a lot of punch in its 93 pages! Best consumed in one sitting, it details a short window into the life of Aurora, a captain on a whale watching vessel in Monterey Bay. The small town community and her old ways are tested when a sleek, matte-black vessel rolls into port to set up a competing business with the latest technologies and standoffish, uniformed crew. All of a sudden, the change is palpable as generations of small businesses along the pier shutter due to anonymous complaints about codes. The character of the pier is upended overnight. With an urgent anger and indignent righteousness, Aurora and her crew are forced to reckon with the powerful forces of wealthy and aloof outsiders upending everything as they recalibrate their own next steps.

[Nathan Holic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite of the Eggers series of hardcover shorts, though this is the first that’s felt firmly in the “novella” camp, as opposed to just long short story. I loved it. And ultimately, I think it’s an amazing example of what a novella can and should be.

[Sarah Duer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorites by one of my all time favorite authors. Can’t wait to read it again

[Andi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book as a simple and quick read, especially bc I was feeling stocked and needed something easy to get back into reading. The story is smart and kept my attention, and I liked the characters. I was hoping for a bit more depth or a sci-fi twist. And even though the villain’s motivations weren’t fully explained, it was still a fun and easy read. Overall, I’d give it about 3.5 stars because it’s a smart little story that’s enjoyable, especially at the end.

[Miz Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a fondness for novellas (love the new trend of publishing them as books) and the title intrigued me. I did not know until I picked it up that it is part of a series of connected novellas. I will be looking the others up. This one focuses on the economic impacts of wanton capitalism and individualism versus thriving as a community looking out for each other. The setting is a seaside town where a trio of whale-watching tour boats make a pleasant living until one captain retires and the new owner takes a predatory stance to claim all the business for himself and other wealth-minded tourists. A lot of anger and redemption can be found in this slim volume. A satisfying read.

[William Canepa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkably satisfying bit of wish fulfillment. The evil in this story is so evident in contemporary society. There is a longing baked into this tale that it will physically find its way into to the hands of a real-life patron of the Brandins of the world and that they will read it and be awakened to the folly of their ways and we will all sail into a warmer world. But they do not read and do not long for warmth. This story provides us with a path to their destruction, having dispatched with the idea that they can ever be rehabilitated. This is the way of the Mangione and I’m here for it.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Eggers knocks it outta the park with this short and yet very fulfilling novella that feels like a complete novel. Three long-standing whale watching operators in the Monterey Bay work together to keep their small businesses a float. When one drops out and is bought by a mysterious new high-end aloof investor the tides change (I know too many puns). The new crew is anything but warm and they seek to destroy the small businesses with legal tactics and other misdeeds. But, wait for the final twist. This slim hardback is one of a series of six by the famed author - eager to read the rest!

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another unbelievably great story from the Forgetters series. Eggers has a way to suck you in within a page or two and not let go until the last sentence. This story about two whale watching boat captains in a battle with a new comer is simply wonderful. Also look out for the nod to The Comebacker :)

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story. By the author of The Circle. This is another of 7 unrelated stories which the author plans to put together into a book. This story was about a couple of whaling boats that get competition from a new captain. I liked this story a lot better than the last one. Funny, sad, bittersweet, and nice ending.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one with a happy ending.

[Lory Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this short story! 🐋 I’ll be looking into the others in this series and more of Dave’s work.

[Timothy Curry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been loving receiving these little volumes in Egger's series called The Forgetters. This is one of the best so far. I read it months ago and still think of the characters and setting.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really easy read, intriguing story, semi-satisfying conclusion. Glad I picked this one up.

[gabs coker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little happy ending never killed anyone

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent beach read- excellent end

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a satisfying read: it draws you in, somehow paints a picture of each character, takes you nowhere the story doesn’t need to go and ties up each loose end. Someone turn this into a TV show.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eggers is a master of this short form.

[Ann Straight · Rating 5 out of 5]

short and sweet- on Ann Page

[Sophia Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The forgetters is genuinely one of the best series I’ve come across in my perusal of the library stacks