The Opposition…

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan

Discussion: the water cooler

Why we're reading this: author guest during cOlbert's Book Club discussion of The Great Gatsby, May 9, 2013…more
[close] author guest during cOlbert's Book Club discussion of The Great Gatsby, May 9, 2013

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the water cooler

Checking in
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 5 views

last updated Jul 26, 2012 02:50PM

Maurice Sendak
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 2 posts · 14 views

last updated May 11, 2012 02:59AM

What Members Thought

Dec 12, 2012 Kathrina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: american-fiction

This is the best book I read all year. A great example of an author's true skill -- a great book is more than just the words that tell a story -- the structure, the story between the words, perspective, voice, all devices used masterfully here. ...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Brad rated it it was amazing

I had read "Selling the General" a few years ago in an anthology of short stories but didn't even realize it was the same author until reaching the story in this novel... or short story collection? Regardless, the characters of these vignettes are vivid and engrossing and their connections made up a puzzle that I enjoyed assembling in my mind. The central themes of the book are the passage of time and aging. The first six stores comprising "A" and the last seven, "B", we see the characters go fr ...more

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May 04, 2011 Emilee rated it liked it · review of another edition

I wish I liked this better. I kind of feel intellectually degraded that I don't view a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel touted by Time as "A new classic of American fiction" as the tour-de-force that everyone said it would be. I was just a little underwhelmed.

So I finally get it: time is a goon - ergo, "A Visit from the Goon Squad" refers to the passage of time, so this novel peaks into the lives of characters through time. Nice theme, but not exactly "groundbreaking" (which was what The Chicago Tri I wish I liked this better. I kind of feel intellectually degraded that I don't view a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel touted by Time as "A new classic of American fiction" as the tour-de-force that everyone said it would be. I was just a little underwhelmed.

So I finally get it: time is a goon - ergo, "A Visit from the Goon Squad" refers to the passage of time, so this novel peaks into the lives of characters through time. Nice theme, but not exactly "groundbreaking" (which was what The Chicago Tribune promised me). Also, the Chicago Tribune told me there would be "characters..whom you come to care deeply as you watch them doing things they shouldn't, acting gloriously, infuriatingly human". I think a major issue is that it took me a long time to become invested in these characters - which is clearly the key to enjoying this novel, seeing as how there's no plot. After finishing this, I honestly could not care less about Bennie, and as per the summary on the back of the novel, he's supposed to encompass half of the story. So I consider that a problem. Sasha, on the other hand, was an amazing character. But I don't think it was until Chapter 10, "Out of Body" until I made this connection with her. "Out of Body" truly delivered - poetic, moving, emotional, powerful - but why did it take 186 pages to get there?

I guess the real problem is that its theme doesn't hit as close to home to me as it would to a 35-something woman who is experiencing a divorce, career ennui, and just found her first grey hair/wrinkle/first sign of aging. I am gloriously aloof to the fact that one day, I will inevitably experience career failure with no one but my cats Mr. Tumbles, Bernard, and Professor Whiskers to look on as I weep into my third very-dry-gin-martini-straight-up-with-a-twist-no-olive. I don't really want to think about how life goes belly-up as time moves on, or should I say, how I will witness "decaying and endurance" (nice euphemism, New York Times!). So I will revisit this novel when that time comes. And in the mean time, I'm going to stop listening to newspaper literary criticisms. ...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Chortle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

It is an unusual book, and has surprises and uses different formats. A bit of a challenge, and has some chapters are quite awesome. Multiple narrators going through life and the directions they've taken and events that have occurred over the course of decades. Even though these people have been through struggles, some of them come out okay, and maybe the formatting prevents one from having the 'this is chick lit' sappy feel that to me destroys many books.

I took away something about survival fro ...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Jackie rated it liked it

This is one of those times where I wish Goodreads would provide the option of a 3.5 - I liked this book a lot, just not quite enough to give it a 4.

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Jun 11, 2011 Dan added it

Interesting story.. I was expecting more after all the talk

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May 14, 2011 Roos rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite, i-own, read-in-2011, best-of-11, music, lit

Everything it says to be. Loved the chapter in PowerPoint.

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Feb 23, 2011 Bekah Porter-Sandy marked it as to-read

Apr 21, 2011 Megan marked it as to-read

Shelves: fiction, pulitzer-prize, orange-prize

Apr 27, 2011 Mary marked it as to-read

Shelves: fiction

May 19, 2011 Bria marked it as to-read

Jun 05, 2011 Rodney Ulyate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cricket, sports-and-recreation, terrorism, al-qaeda, racism, september-11-attacks, men-who-have-sex-with-men, rugby-football, novel, dictatorship