From the Bookshelf of Bookmarks Subscribers …
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
By Stephanie · 4 posts · 17 views
By Stephanie · 4 posts · 17 views
last updated Jan 04, 2011 08:47PM
showing 4 of 4 topics
view all »
Other topics mentioning this book
What book did you just start?
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
last updated Feb 27, 2024 08:11PM
What Members Thought
I always feel kind of 'funny' when I'm not really crazy about an award-winning popular book, one that has garnered rave reviews...but that's how I felt about this book. I found the characters very interesting and thought the writing was really good...but (there's that 'but' again), I sometimes found myself losing my focus and having to go back and re-read a few pages to figure out exactly where I was plot-wise. I thought the book jumped around quite a bit which normally doesn't bother me. I gave
...more
A segment of the hard-living, fast-paced music industry is brought to life by its inhabitants. Characters are portrayed peripherally through other eyes and also take center stage. When a character is placed in the spotlight, one is not introduced -- one plunges into their soul to view a series of graphic snapshots -- then click on the hyperlink to zoom in on the next character. The effect is brilliantly and mosaically kaleidoscopic. The writing is very personal, edgy and streetwise. It is splash
...more
Brilliant novel that comprises a set of short stories, loosely linked by the occasional reappearances of characters. A young girl in one story is a middle-aged mother in another. A man meets an older music producer and has a vague recollection of having had a single date with a woman who had worked for that producer years ago (he doesn't even recall her name). I don't know whether it's the form that enhances this effect, but the book really highlights the way that lives intersect and influence o
...more
I liked how this diverse group of flawed characters each was highlighted in their own chapter and how their lives sometimes intersected. I didn't really like all the characters, and had a hard time identifying with some of them, but they seemed real. It was voyeuristic peek at the flaws and foibles of human beings. Sometimes I wanted to look away, but more often than not I wanted to see how they wrecked their lives and/or repaired them.
What I didn't like about the book was although each chapter ...more
What I didn't like about the book was although each chapter ...more
This award winning novel did not "grab" me as it has many others. I enjoyed most of the stories separately, but had a hard time putting them all together without referring back. I did not read it straight through, but slowly, a chapter at a time due to a lack of reading time and this may have been part of the problem. When I started a new chapter I enjoyed it until I had to remember how all the characters interacted. This reminded me of that other award winner "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Str
...more
The last third or so of this book is what makes it great. Imagining a world where communication is basically only done through smartphones and texting and words that have no meaning if they are not in quotation marks(ie "friend")-- brilliant. Kind of fitting that I finished this on the day that Bin Laden was killed and I agree with other goodreads reviews that it is a great comment on 9/11- not to heavy handed- just shows the sense of loss. I think my favorite chapter was the very wry Details ar
...more
“Time is a goon!” This story chronicles the current and past lives of Bennie, a record producer and his assistant Sasha. Woven into the snapshots of various events are the people they knew and were influenced by. Musicians and music are analyzed by the eclectic characters. Their experiences send the reader on a glorious trip through sounds of classic rock as well as introduces new artists that may be fictional, but represent the talent swirling on airwaves today. The “goon squad” I think gives r
...more
Loved it and will reread it soon, the better to appreciate the intricate design of characters, narrators, and time. And, best use of Power Point ever.
I really enjoyed this book. It jumps back and forth through a timespan of a few decades, and switches character perspective every chapter. Each character is connected to another in some way, generally pertaining to music. You often get more insight into one character's story through another, or get told how certain character's lives are end up in the future. These are all aspects of the novel enjoyed. I did, however have a few problems with it. I found it to be painfully "hip", and I wasn't a bi
...more
I am waiting to write my review after meeting with other readers tomorrow night. I will give it a unique kind of review on my blog. Unique as in my point system I ve created for this book in particular.
Just ok for me. I think some of my dislike may have been the reader (I listened in the car during my commute).
Nov 24, 2010
Betsy
marked it as to-read
Apr 22, 2011
Jean
marked it as to-read
May 20, 2011
Denise
marked it as to-read
Jun 02, 2011
Julie
marked it as to-read
