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A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what I can say about this Pulitzer Prize winning national bestseller that hasn't already been said before, but I'm simply smitten with it.


It's a story about Bennie and Sasha, and how their worlds slip in and around each other, intertwined in a snaky narrative that surprised and delighted me as a reader. I was always delighted when a character returned or a previous location was reproached, but it was never done in an underhanded or untrustworthy way by the supremely talented author, Jennifer Egan. It was just the opposite, like Egan trusted the readers so much to go on this journey with her that she never once dumb downed the story or let the reader off easily. She expected us to do our jobs as readers, to be fully tuned in as the characters flew with speedball success or hit rock bottom's rock bottom. The closest and most accurate description I can give the storytelling is it's like the characters of a Charles Dickens novel mashed up with the rock and roll poetry of Tony Hoagland.


My favorite book of the year, and possibly the last few years. Be prepared to be lost in this world once you enter, and don't fight it or try to outwit it. Just go where it takes you.





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