A Visit from the Goon Squad
Over the past few years, I’ve scoured through “best books to read before you die” lists with the frantic hope that I wouldn’t croak before reading all the literature and feeling all the feels. Maybe purgatory is for people who haven’t finished their current book. I noted the books that reappear in multiple lists, thinking that I really have to read that one before dying because The New York Times AND NPR gods say so. One such title is Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. Goon is a funny word that reminds me of my days in Australia when the only thing we could afford to drink was boxed wine with questionable contents, affectionately called “goon”.
I quickly learned that “goon” in this case is not a cheap, disgusting libation, but rather a reference to the inevitable passage of time. Sigh. Time really is a goon, insidiously attacking us and forcing us to adult even when we’re woefully unprepared. Egan’s novel emphasizes time as a means to illuminate connections; characters interact at one point in time and then are inextricably linked thereafter.
The narrative bounces from one person to another in every chapter. For example, one chapter shows Sasha, a kleptomaniac with a dark, ruthless past. A later chapter is about Bennie Salazar, a forlorn music producer whom Sasha used to assist. An even later chapter follows Alex, a one-time victim of Sasha’s penchant for stealing, who connects with Bennie years later for a shady job. The end result is a novel that actually feels more like a succession of short stories.
This structure is sometimes creatively satisfying, sometimes bothersome. Since each character has a different voice, we see Egan’s skill at portraying such a vast spectrum of personhood. While she emphasizes their interwoven connections in space and time, she also differentiates them with distinct personalities. My favorite chapter was that of Sasha’s daughter, who explained her feelings toward the family dynamic—specifically concerning her autistic brother—solely via PowerPoint presentation. Egan certainly wins creative points there. Yet, I was also annoyed by the novel’s ADHD arrangement. Just when I would get invested in a character’s life, Egan sapped my interest by moving on to someone else-- an unfortunate byproduct of her innovative structure.
So, the novel covers a range of characters, but what do they have in common--aside from a physical interaction at one point in time? They’re all going through some psychological agony. Some suffer from mental illness, some love drugs too much, some just can’t keep it in their pants, etc. As each person is affected by the passage of time, we see how time heals in some instances and scars in others. When Egan circles back to old characters later on, we see whether or not “the goon won” or if the characters overcame their issues (Egan, 349).
Overall, I was pretty entertained throughout the novel until it fizzled in the last chapter. I don’t think that the final chapter adds any value; If anything, it detracts from the novel by derailing an otherwise inventive storyline. I’m a little shocked that A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2011. Pondering time’s toll on humans is obviously relevant to any reader and I do think that most people would enjoy the first 90% of the novel. But I certainly don’t absolutely insist that you read this before you die, nor would I sentence you to purgatory if you didn’t finish it. Thus, the novel levels out at a cool 3 out of 5 flames.
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