This long story is full of passion and sincerity. It's written to be convincing, but while it's well-crafted, I remain unconvinced.
Our narrator is a tech-y nerd. While recovering from a cancer scare, he meets a kindred spirit who introduces him to the culture and philosophies of Burning Man - which are described here with a wide-eyed enthusiasm that I just do not share - I found it rather naïve-seeming. Up to this point, the piece reads almost like a personal essay by Doctorow. (I would've believed that everything has happened IRL, as depicted.) However, then it takes a jump into the sci-fi realm. We fast-forward a few years into the future. A medical crisis spurs a jumping-off point from the two men's original Burning Man tech project into a bigger concept - one involving the Moon.
Unfortunately (?) I am one of those people mentioned within the piece who would think that this project not only fails to be inspiring or important, it's really quite a terrible idea.
I also felt that, while the piece in many places felt almost like an 'argumentative essay,' throwing in the medical stuff (dying wishes and such) felt like shoehorning in an appeal to base emotions in the service of the argument - which is a very poor debating technique.
However, as a whole, the novella is still well-crafted, keeps the reader's interest, and contains quite a few interesting and thought-provoking concepts & ideas - even if I don't agree with all of them. ( )