Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Rarely is the most structurally interesting book of the year also one of the year's most engaging and touching, but Jennifer Egan reveals a truly magical touch in these pages. This hybrid of novel and short-story collection hops and skips through the decades, moving back and forth in time and even shifting shape (one chapter takes the form of a PowerPoint presentation). Taken together, these tales present us with a rich and complex picture of Bennie, a successful music producer, and his assistant Sasha, capable in every way but for her kleptomania. Always clear-eyed, whether visiting the last days of punk or an environmentally distraught near future, A Visit from the Goon Squad is a new classic of American fiction.