A Visit from the Goon Squad
By Jennifer Egan
- Release Date: 2010-06-08
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER • With music pulsing on every page, this startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption “features characters about whom you come to care deeply as you watch them doing things they shouldn't, acting gloriously, infuriatingly human” (The Chicago Tribune).
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years • A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Fiction Book of the Last 30 Years
Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs.
“Pitch perfect . . . Darkly, rippingly funny . . . Egan possesses a satirist’s eye and a romance novelist’s heart.”—The New York Times Book Review
Reviews
Too many characters, didn’t connect with any of them, 88% done and about to quit
3By Sh878787The writing is nice. Just way too many characters and none seem real in a way that I connect with. I gave it a shot hoping for some heart but with 88% of it read, I have zero motivation to keep reading to see how she brings it all together.Did Not Finish
2By BigAppleGregAs a middle aged person who is going through a mid life crisis (not sure on those counts, but bought a Range Rover and am unemployed), I found this too much of a downer. The generational layer story may have been fresh in 2010, but the Manhattan (not Brooklyn) entertainment executive who moves to the suburbs, with a coke habit, infidelity, Porsche, etc., is a tired trope in 2025. The recent book by the ‘Fleishman’s in Trouble’ read just like this - bizarre tragedies scattered amuck. Seems Brooklyn authors have it out for Manhattanites no matter the decade, though I did move from Greenwich Village to Connecticut and need a new housekeeper and landscaper - woe is me, but especially to the characters in this book.Loved it
5By benjii666Best book everAn excellent read
5By tcanreadThis book was fantastic. The stories fit together in such a clever way, the character development is notable and the entire book was very enjoyable. Highly recommend.What a Great Introduction to Egan’s Writing
5By MpoharaThis poignant, beautifully written novel took me back to my youth and then thrust me back to the present because, after all, I grew up.Great
5By cpowell99998Very goodAmazing writing and characters
4By Auggie's ManLoved this book. As I typically read at bedtime it took a lot to put it aside and actually get sleep!Terrible from beginning to end
1By jess haysPossibly the most terrible book I’ve ever forced myself to finishA visit from the goon squad
5By Eva PalomaresRemarkable! Intense! Full of surprises.A worthy read.
5By Hitchens76A rewarding read. Accessible, thoughtful, cleverly constructed and heartfelt.One of my favorites
5By brunaaliceRead this a few years back, and I still think of this book fondly. I loved how the story was told through different characters who were all somehow interconnected.Moio
4By ' TjYou q7Tasteless, and disturbingly detached
1By ClareCeceHorrible, boring book. I finished the entire book. I kept waiting for some kind of redemption from the insensitive detachment to the mild traumas the characters were experiencing, and it never came. As a rape survivor, I find the chapter coming from the rapists point of view to be particularly disturbing and tasteless. Also the young teenage girls being drugged and abused by an old guy (again told from his perspective) was kind of revolting.Transcendence
5By Shaye bae baeNever have I read a better book than this one. So much beauty in the writing and the author’s wisdom that I felt like my heart was going to swell out its natural place in my body. I will never forget this book and will forever now see things through a new lens. Thank you Jennifer Egan. I was worried with all the almost unreadable writing being published, that new great works of literature that weren’t overly depressing were never going to exist again. I am just floating right now having finished this book and am a little bit sad it’s over. This book for me is like Scotty...breaking through the banal and conventional...true beauty and art.Horrible book
1By DfsupermanI had to read this book for school and it was one of the most irrelevant and pointless books I have ever read. Each chapter is totally different from the one before and the storyline is practically non-existent (although a few of the chapters are connected by flashbacks and stuff like that). Random new characters that had nothing to do with the story came up in almost every chapter, and chapter 12 was literally a PowerPoint written by some girl that made no sense and had nothing to do with anything. There were no lessons/morals that I was able to take from this book considering that there was barely even a storyline to this whole novel. I certainly don't recommend wasting your time reading it unless you have to (like me).Almost Perfect
4By mrsavmixadattoI loved the first 80 percent of this book and could read an entire novel about the characters in the chapter "A to B." I thought Ms. Egan did a flawless job of connecting the characters within the stories. Brilliant. Like others, however, the last few chapters fell flat for me and the final chapter was just....huh?Connections
5By robpageLoved every word. Drop everything and read it.Disappointing
2By HSH NurseThis book was a huge disappointment. I looked forward to reading it because of all the great reviews but WOW! It was difficult to navigate. It was one little story after another little story and I spent more time trying to figure out who was who then I did trying to enjoy the story. Actually, there was no story.A visit from the goon squad
1By lauren andersonOne of the worst books I've read in a long time. Don't bother, it was totally disjointed; I finally gave up with the power point chapter. Terrible.
