The Souvenir Museum is a collection of short stories by the award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken. The stories are of a contemporary genre, and each story deals with some real-life struggle in a witty way. All the characters have come to a point in their life where they need a change, a new perspective in the everlasting search of self.
The daily struggles of life are portrayed in an absurdist, comedic manner. One of the story portrays an actress of children shows, who comes at crossroads in life, she feels too young for her youthful name, but not too old for her strange last name. Her name is Jenny Early. Another story follows a recently widowed father going on a trip to Scotland together with his young son.
The main themes portrayed in the collection are universal themes of family, aging, grief and fears that naturally come with life, as well as mutual need for comfort. The humorous and absurdist tone is further developed with the usage of monologue. It was published in the spring of 2021 and nominated for the National Book Award.
