From the grunge rock of the 1980s to the fake-sounding sugary pop of the 2010s, Bennie Salazar, his long-time assistant, Sasha, and their various acquaintances and family member have worshipped music. For this band of unhappy and struggling young adults, rock and roll lives on, even when relationships and careers do not. Set in New York City, A Visit from the Goon Squad follows loosely connected music lovers for whom songs have been the one consistency in drug-ridden, emotionally complex lives.
Plot Overview: Drugs, Sex and Rock ‘n Roll
Sasha, a kleptomaniac who has roamed the world and landed in the music business in New York City, and her boss, Bennie Salazar, know music. Bennie, in particular, may not be able to play an instrument, but he has a musical instinct, the inherent knowledge of when music reaches spiritual heights and when it is just noise. After discovering the Conduits in the 1980s, he quickly rises to the top of the music world – and eventually loses his perspective, his wife and his company.
Sasha and Bennie have a collection of friends, former lovers, future spouses and children, all of whom are touched by music, by tragedy and by love. Their stories span time and technology, and while it would seem there is no connective thread between them, their lives are marked by the awesomeness of the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin.
Criticisms and Compliments
A Visit from the Goon Squad is a National Book Critics Circle award winner, a PEN/Faulkner award finalist and a Pulitzer Prize winner. It’s a heavy amount of honor for this best-selling book, but author Jennifer Egan has earned it. A Visit from the Goon Squad is exceptional, both in its structure and in the amount of depth Egan is able to achieve. Its premise is simple: present individual snapshots of people who love music. In reality, the simplicity of Egan’s approach gives this inventive novel a spark, a “je ne sais quoi” that other novels do not have. It is no surprise that this book is as popular as it is.
Like Girls in White Dresses, A Visit from the Goon Squad is not a typical work of fiction. Instead, it is more of a selection of poignant essays; the common thread is that each person is somehow connected to Bennie Salazar or Sasha, both of whom only pop up sporadically in the novel. Each story is marked by similar themes of loss, depression, helplessness and love, but there is a very sad realization among the characters of this novel that adult life is disappointing, that the dreams of youth can never be realized. Music is the only balm to the wounds of the disillusioned.
A Visit from the Goon Squad is, really, a unique mixture of styles. Not only does Egan write each character’s voice differently, but the structure of the stories varies (keep a look out for her inventive use of slides in Chapter 12). Somehow, A Visit from the Goon Squad, while flowing from one voice into another, also slips through the barriers of genre. It begins as typical literary fiction and ends in science-fiction. It is a fascinating, enjoyable read, though it does take a little time getting used to Egan’s style.
Source:
- Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Goon Squad. Anchor, 2011 ISBN 9780307477477
