Nathan

=//A Visit from the Goon Squad//=

About the Book
//A Visit from the Goon Squad // by Jennifer Egan was published in 2010 and won the Pulitzer Prize, along with several others, such as the National Books Critics Circle Award. The story is unique in that it describes the life of a few central characters by telling short stories of the people around them and how they are related in the story. Also, in each chapter, the point of view and narrator change which allows the reader to identify with different viewpoints about the characters. Consequently, this also changes the setting, quite frequently, which takes place as far back as the nineteen sixties’ to almost present day. In addition, the location, which primarily occurs in New York, also ranges from Africa to California

About the Author
Jennifer Egan was born in Chicago on September 6th, 1962, and raised in San Francisco. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and later St. John’s College in Cambridge, England. After graduating, she traveled frequently and worked a number of odd jobs while learning how to write. Over the years, she has published several short stories for notable magazines such as //The New Yorker// as well as journalism in //The New York Times Magazine.// Other works of hers include //The Emerald City// (1993), //The Invisible Circus// (1995), //Look at Me// (2001), //The Keep// (2006), and finally //A Visit from the Goon Squad// (2010). Her critical reputation is very good as critics praise her for her unique style and avant-garde approach.

Characters and Conflict
With every chapter, a new character narrates a story that involves several other characters, which makes a description of every character quite difficult. However, the story generally follows two central, recurring characters, Sasha and Bennie. Bennie is a successful music producer and aging former punk rocker, (who took after record mogul Lou) and Sasha is his assistant. The reader gains knowledge about these two characters through the accounts of other characters that are related to them in some way. An example of this is Rhea, a band member of Bennie’s, who describes her hatred and despise to Lou. Each chapter tells its own story, but still connects to be part of a cohesive story. The conflict that most characters face is usually one against themselves, in which they find that their lives as adults vaguely represent the happiness that they had hoped for as a child.

Theme
In Jennifer Egan’s //A Visit from the Goon Squad//, she uses a variety of unique styles to display that the passing of time is a plague nobody can escape, which can lead to dissatisfaction and an unhappy life.

Book Review
Jennifer Egan’s //A Visit from the Goon Squad// is a unique novel that tells the story of a handful of central characters by constantly changing perspective and narrators, which creates an interesting atmosphere as their viewpoints both compliment and clash with each other. As the plot unravels, it reveals several larger themes, such as the cruelty of life, that connect to the characters and their actions. Overall, this Pulitzer Prize winner, even though targeting an older audience, is a fun read that provides the reader with hours of entertainment and is highly recommended for looking for a more mature read.

Style Analysis
In //A Visit from the Goon Squad//, Egan uses a variety of style elements to create a unique progression as the reader makes his or her way through the novel. This type of progression is non-linear as each chapter differs in setting, point of view, narrator, tone, diction and syntax, and several others. Egan’s usage of differing styles throughout the novel helps to give it a unique approach and deeper meaning. The first and most prominent aspect of her style is the structural layout of her novel. Each chapter is a different time period which barely forms a coherent, flowing structure. For example, in chapter five, Lou, who used to be a stylish middle-age record producer earlier in the novel, is now a crippled man lying on his deathbed twenty years later. Egan shares how he has changed through the words of Jocelyn, “I’m afraid the real Lou will be outside by the pool where he lived with a red phone on a long cord and a bowl of green apples, and the real Lou and this old Lou will have a fight” (Egan, 88). Through this unique progression of events in the novel, it shows the reader insight to the novel’s meaning, “Egan’s chronologically jumbled structure is the perfect vehicle to express this, shuttling the reader between prophecy and hindsight” (Jordan). This juxtaposition that Egan employs by varying the timeline of her novel helps to convey her theme about the passage of time to the reader. Another element of style that Egan uses is characterization. She introduces and describes narrators through the stories of others. Sasha, for example, is a recurring character throughout the story but is only the main character of one of the chapters. Only through interactions with others does the reader learn about the nature of Sasha. In the first chapter, the story revolves around Sasha, in which the reader finds out that she is a kleptomaniac. However, as the novel progresses and more characters are introduced, their relation to Sasha reveals a greater insight into her life. In chapter ten, the story is told in second person from the viewpoint of Bob. Bob is close friends with Sasha but wishes they were something more, especially since she is dating Drew. Through this chapter, the reader learns that Sasha attended NYU and worked as a prostitute in Naples for a couple of years. In chapter twelve, it is revealed that Sasha has married Drew and has two kids, Lincoln and Allison. Through this unique approach of introducing characters, Egan causes the reader to actively engage in the novel and to think about the action as it unravels during the story. The last major stylistic element is the differing viewpoints and narrators for every chapter. This approach creates a different and unique voice for every chapter. She employs different points of view, including first person, second person, third person, and even a daring Powerpoint presentation. These ever-changing points of view create different worlds in which “the reader acquires an omniscience that is almost godlike, but is nevertheless shadowed with mystery” (Schine). Furthermore, the change of narrators also creates different tones and styles every chapter. For example, in chapter nine, a reporter, Jules Jones, who abused a celebrity, writes an extremely sardonic article from jail about this experience. Also, Egan even uses her own grammatical rules since she uses Powerpoint as one complete chapter and neglects the usage of quotation marks in another. Throughout the novel, Egan’s unique and varying usage of stylistic elements actively engages the reader while using new methods to help to convey the theme, that the passage of time is an unavoidable part of life.

Works Cited
Egan, Jennifer. //A Visit from the Goon Squad.// New York City: Anchor Books, 2010. Print

House, Christian. “A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.” Rev. of A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan. //The Independent.// independent.co.uk, 13 March 2011. Web. 18 May 2012. html>.

Jordan, Justine. “A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan – review.” Rev. of A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan. //The Guardian//. Guardian News and Media, 1 April 2011. Web. 18 May 2012. <http://www.guardian.c o.uk/books/2011/apr/02/jennifer-egan-goon-squad-review>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Schine, Cathleen. “Cruel and Benevolent.” Rev. of A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan. //The New York Review of Books.// NYREV, Inc., n.d. Web. 18 May 2012. <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/11/cruel-and-benevolent/?page=1>.