A Visit from the Goon Squad in Around the Year in 52 Books

Dec 28, 2012 Liz rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 52-in-2013

I thought this book was fantastic, and was very surprised to see so many negative reviews!

In reviewing my list of favorite books, it's pretty clear that I have a strong affection for stories that feature very flawed, very "human" characters, and Good Squad is no exception. I found my heaven in this book as it's a jackpot stash of characters who literally lie, cheat, and steal.

What I found so wonderful about how Egan painted these characters certainly had to do with their inherent flawed-ness (is I thought this book was fantastic, and was very surprised to see so many negative reviews!

In reviewing my list of favorite books, it's pretty clear that I have a strong affection for stories that feature very flawed, very "human" characters, and Good Squad is no exception. I found my heaven in this book as it's a jackpot stash of characters who literally lie, cheat, and steal.

What I found so wonderful about how Egan painted these characters certainly had to do with their inherent flawed-ness (is this even a word??) but it also had to do with how pained all of them were as they continued to make mistakes, do wrong, or lose struggle to stay connected with those around them. They all wanted redemption in some way, even if they in some cases did not do everything they could to achieve it. The more miserable the character so long as I get a look into their mind, the more I want to root for them. In this sense I tore through the book, rooting for everyone I met.

To the point about getting a glimpse inside everyone's brain, I loved the shifting POV lens used to tell this story because it got me so many different perspectives on characters, and really aligned me as a reader to the mindset of each person I got to meet. If the chapter told from Scotty's POV was told from Bennie's POV or a 3rd person omniscient or limited POV, I would have been super grossed out by him and had no sympathy at all. As it turned out, I was always hoping I'd get to see him come back in the story and wanted to know "how he was doing" as I would describe it to people when I told them how the book was going. I also loved Egan's choice to tell the story in a flipping, looping timeline because it really brought out the struggle for connection - human, musical, even connection with one's self - that all of the characters were grappling with. As I slowly made connections as a reader and fervently looked for them in every corner of the novel's text, I most urgently felt the character's own need to feel tied to something, make sense of time, and understand where they fit among the other humans in their life.

Time itself was an important character in this book, and I loved how this was manifested in the shifting timelines and the well-depicted settings that represent recent American mini-eras. Egan really impressed me with her ability to further personify the "old goon, time" by forcing each character to face the all-powerful prankster at one point or another in the story, no matter how long they had tried to avoid it. From leaving prison suddenly white-haired, to friends gathering around one's own death bed, to having to acknowledge someone who passed and left you long ago while you were forced to keep on moving, time came to everyone without fail.

The overarching theme of the story did not hit home for me until the very last page, and I loved how that happened as usually for me understanding a theme of a novel is a very gradual thing. I wonder if perhaps this is where the difference in my opinion of this book and more negative opinions is based, as I can see other takeaways that are far less satisfying than the one I took. The book could be read as a cheap commentary on how time has changed and how disconnected the current era is making us all; it could be read as an "all things come to an end" story where people don't grow up and can't get on with their lives and are thus doomed. Pretty boring and well-worn territory, so I get it and that would bug me too.

For me, the sentence "you grew up, Alex." was what got me and made me love this book. It is not the age we live in that takes our soul away and makes us lose who we are. It is not one mistake we made long ago that, if not made, would have made our lives perfect. It is not a failed romance, the loss of someone who is our other half, or being forced to grow up early that steals ourselves from us. It's simply time, and it will happen in every age, to every person, in every walk of life. One day, we will simply wake up and realize that our old,"happy" self is just far far away and there is no way to get back there. Except, perhaps, for music, the other resounding theme of the novel, which will always allow us a powerful but fleeting trip back to our best, worst, gone times that otherwise have been pulled far away from us by and old good when we were only looking at our next move ahead.
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Aug 16, 2017 Samantha rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-around-the-year-in-52-books

The reviews on this see to be really good or really bad so was hesitant to pick it up. Turns out I am one of those who like it. I can see where it isn't for everyone. Right off it is more like a book of short stories with intertwined characters with a timeline that is hard to follow both of which can throw you off if you are expected a linear novel about a music executive and his assistant. Once I got over that I was able to somehow identify with many of the characters and I enjoyed the backdrop ...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Susan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, bay-area

The plot ricochets around a couple of central characters, Sasha and Bennie. I felt little enthusiasm for reading this book for much of the first half. Later, I warmed up to it a bit, but not enough to try to sort out all the details of the shifting chronology.

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May 08, 2019 Jana rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club, audiobooks, x2019-reading-challenge

I may have liked it better if I had read it rather than listening to the audio book. So very many characters in different time periods. It was a little hard to adjust.

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