A Visit from the Goon Squad
A witty, nostalgic, bittersweet collection of stories that isn't afraid to play around with timelines and styles of narration. Despite the rapid changes between chapters and the large cast of characters, this book is quirky enough to keep you hooked. "A Visit from the Goon Squad" follows a large ensemble of characters who are all linked in some way or another. Teenage punk rockers, record executives, kleptomaniacs, movie stars, dictators - you wouldn't think these stories would mesh together well, but they do. As each chapter goes by, Egan reveals a little more about our central characters, Bennie and Sasha, and the people in their lives. Our cast is both funny and tragic, both hopeful and depressing, and entertainingly self-destructive.
Depending on the reviewer, this book will either be criticized or praised for its style of writing, which changes with each chapter. First, second, and third person points of view are all present, as well as a chapter told entirely through power-point slides. It's a refreshing change of pace that allows Egan to expand on characterization in ways that best fit the character. Truthfully, the book could be picked apart and rearranged in any way, its stories read independently, and still make sense. It may seem plotless and trivial, but every story shares an overarching theme that connects it to the rest.
With so many leaps backward and forward in time, "A Visit from the Goon Squad" focuses heavily on nostalgia and a yearning for the past. Often, a character's offhanded comment about the 'good old days' will be the main focus of a later chapter. Younger readers who can't identify with the book's theme of inevitable aging will still be able to enjoy and appreciate it, and to older audiences, it will serve as a bittersweet reminder.
