Book 3 - A Visit From the Goon Squad

A Visit From the Goon Squad

by, Jennifer Egan

288 pages - 4.5 stars

If you're a fan of books (like I am), you've probably heard of Jennifer Egan. She kept popping up in various NPR podcasts talking about her newest book, A Visit From the Goon Squad, and at some point I added it to my Amazon wishlist (for the record, my Amazon wishlist is not for the faint of heart - I am constantly adding books to it and not remembering why) and then chose to purchase it for my Kindle App - not an insignificant feat given the number of books I weed through to choose one.

Not really remembering much about this book (or the author, for that matter), I went into the book without a lot of expectation... and was blown away. This was a book chosen for my commute (thus, the Kindle purchase) but it quickly sucked me in and I was reading it at home - on my phone. Nevertheless, the book pushed on and made me forget I was reading it on a 3.2 inch screen. It was really quite a wonderful book. I'll admit I'm a bit of a snob with books sometimes so an author's popularity can work against them in my mind - but I stand corrected with Jennifer Egan (on at least this book). The fanfare is warranted, the interviews reasonable - this book is really quite good.

Now, who should read this book? Well, the book chronicles a group of folks (punk fans) across multiple decades. Everyone is connected in some way (whether it be obvious or founded on the thinnest of hairs) and their stories merge and disconnect across the years in ways that alter others' course - or not. It's a wonderful portrayal of life in a way - some people "make it", some people don't; there are losers and victors, villains and victims; and each character is multi-dimensional so that one minute you're on board with them and the next, aghast at their decisions. You get sucked into the minutiae of their lives - because this book isn't really about grand events or anything like that; it's the story of multiple lives intersecting in various ways. Do you like music? Read the book. Do you like books? Read it. Do you like music and books? Stop reading this and go to the bookstore.

All that said, it's good. The characters are real and solid - you want to know what happens to them. You're invested in their lives and you're happy (or sad) with them. It's a real story with real people in it. I liked this book so much, I wanted to find people to give it to (Hi PVG!).

And, I guess I'm not alone, because A Visit From the Goon Squad won the Pullitzer Prize for fiction. Congrats Jennifer Egan, I'd like to see more!