A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan

Short description (from Goodreads.com): Jennifer Egan’s spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Although Bennie and Sasha never discover each other’s pasts, the reader does, in intimate detail, along with the secret lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs, over many years, in locales as varied as New York, San Francisco, Naples, and Africa.

A very short description. I did that on purpose because I think you have to discover the book all by yourself. Like I did. It really is much more fun that way.

So, what did I think of it. Well, thank you Goodreads Book Club, thanks for putting this book on the bookclub reading list. It is one of the best, if not, the best book I’ve ever read. At first it was quite a struggle. Many different persons, different timelines and yet, all connected. Really needed a notebook whilst reading the first chapters. But I like puzzles. Egan ensures that you get to know the characters well and I can imagine that different readers have different characters they sympathize with. My favorite character was Sasha. Of course chapter 12, Great Rock and Roll Pauses, is the best of the book.  Egan’s written an ingenious book that really deserves the Pulitzer prize. To me there is only one possible judgement, five stars!

If you enjoyed reading the book as well, be sure to check this short story, written by Jennifer Egan, in the Guardian. And Egan’s got her own website where you can find reviews, interviews and a lot of other interesting stuff.