A Visit from the Goon Squad
Jennifer Egan · b. 1962 · United States
Why it matters
Musicians, publicists, and their children are tracked across decades in a novel-in-stories, one chapter told entirely in PowerPoint slides. Won the Pulitzer for its structural daring in rendering time's passage.
At a glance
postmodern
Difficulty 7/10medium pace340 pagesFractured, non-chronological structure jumps narrators, decades, even a slideshow chapter.
Deep dive
Why the book that keeps jumping decades and formats refuses to end where it started, and what a slide-deck chapter is doing inside a literary novel.
Where to go next
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Péter Esterházy · 2000Celestial HarmoniesLvl 8Slow burn