How To Read the Text

How to Read A Visit from the Goon Squad: As a Grouping of Individual Short Stories or a Complete Novel

Although the chapters of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad can be read as individual short stories, it is more appropriate for the text to be read as a complete novel in order to preserve the purposeful connection and flow of events and main theme. The chapters are made more meaningful through the interconnectedness of the characters as well as the order that the chapters are placed in.

A Visit From the Goon Squad centers around two main characters, Bennie Salazar, a former punk rocker and record label executive, and Sasha Grady, a troubled young woman employed by Bennie. All other characters in the novel are connected to them in some way. For example, Dolly, a formerly famous publicist, threw a party years before her chapter takes place that Bennie attended and her daughter, Lulu, takes Sasha’s old job as Bennie’s assistant. While each chapter focuses on an individual, there is always something tying them to Bennie and Sasha. The characters are also connected by the idea of Point A and Point B (and sometimes the desire to return to their Point A). For example, Lou tries to relive his youth by sleeping with younger women, Kitty, over the course of ten years, went from a young, promising Hollywood starlet to a tired has-been, Jocelyn, once young and pretty, is now a former drug addict still living with her mother. These characters have all been affected by the passage of time. These characters all bring a different perspective on the same theme, that “time is a goon” and will eventually take everything from you.

The order of the novel is also important, as it begins and ends with Sasha. The very first chapter is her narration, as she talks to her therapist about a date that she had with another character, Alex. In this chapter, Sasha is deeply unhappy. Living in New York City, surrounded by hustle and bustle, she feels lonely and isolated. The final chapter is Alex’s narration. Set far after his date with Sasha, he now works for Bennie. Throughout the chapter, Alex tries to recall Sasha’s name. When he finally remembers it, he mentions her to Bennie who says she had been fired a long time ago and must have moved on with her life. The closing sentences of this chapter and the book reads “he and Bennie both turned-whirled, really, peering for Sasha in the ashy dark. But it was another girl, young and new to the city, fiddling with her keys.” The girl they see represents a repeating of the cycle of time, a Point A that will be eventually turned into a Point B. If this event was not placed at the end of the book then it would lose its significance as a symbol of rejuvenation and reiteration of the book’s main theme, Time.

The chapters in A Visit From the Goon Squad can, without difficulty or confusion, be read as individual short stories and nothing more. However, acknowledging Egan’s placement of the chapters and intricate web of characters provides a deeper understanding of her message in the novel. The theme of A Visit from the Goon Squad, the passage of time, is most clearly evident through the interconnectedness of the characters and purposeful order of the chapters. By reading A Visit from the Goon Squad as a complete novel, one is able to more clearly see the theme of Egan’s work, that time robs you of your youth, success, and vitality.

Postmodernism Essay

Postmodernism in A Visit from the Goon Squad: How Unique Methods of Storytelling and an Emphasis on Time Enrich the Novel

Postmodernism is a style of philosophy, art, literature, and criticism that began in the late 20th century, typically defined by the rejection of foundational ideologies. A major tenet of postmodernism is that truth and knowledge are constructs of social and historical context rather than absolutes. Postmodernist work is also known for breaking the boundaries and conventions of its medium. Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad is pure postmodernist literature, as Egan employs shifting narrative and odd or unconventional styles of writing, and focuses on time’s ability to morph truth and environment throughout the novel.

The sequencing of chapters in A Visit From the Goon Squad is a testament to its postmodernist style, as chapters are delivered out of order and in varying narrative modes. Some chapters are written in third person, others in first person. In Chapter 10, Egan writes in second person, creating a unique, more immersive relationship between reader and character that appeals to the novel’s postmodernist identity. As the reader shifts between different narratives, the narratives also shift around the nonsequential timeline, forcing the reader to piece together the events of the book to form a more cohesive knowledge of the events. Ordinarily, the reader wouldn’t be tasked with that responsibility in a book laid out in chronological order.

A Visit From the Goon Squad also dabbles in unconventional methods of conveying information, such as in Chapter 12, which is organized in PowerPoint-esque presentation slides. These slides add another layer to storytelling: not only do the words on the page convey ideas, but the orientation of these words on the page add more depth to the ideas presented. For example, Egan creates a diagram with cyclical arrows and words in between to indicate a never-ending pattern of conversation (p. 181) or a blank space where words could be inserted to indicate silence (p. 188). Writing techniques like these push the boundaries of what literature can convey.

Another strategy of Egan’s that demonstrates the elements of postmodernism in Goon Squad is her emphasis on time. Throughout the book there is reference to the concept of time and its implications on change and truth. This relates most directly to the general definition of postmodernism across all media: a challenger of absolutism. For example, in Chapter 4, Egan explains in only one paragraph how a tribal warrior will have a grandchild who will become a rich technologist. This sharp turn in social position in only two generations shows how a series of events through time can seriously alter circumstances. Though a seemingly simple idea, Egan gives it greater weight and postmodernist undertones through her interconnected yet jumbled style of storytelling. It seems the only absolute truth in Goon Squad is that “time's a goon;” in other words, time is an adversary to situational stagnation (p. 96).

Goon Squad is made more interesting and colorful through its use of unique and odd methods of conveying information, and made more profound through its study of the tenets of postmodernist thought. Its web of complex and compelling characters who are loosely interconnected, and their jumbled, mismatched narratives, mimic how humans experience and remember their social lives. Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad is an exemplary work of postmodernism for its ability to enhance the reader’s experience through unconventional style.

Chapter Summaries and Analysis

Chapter I: Found Objects

Summary: The book begins with the character Sasha, a 35 year old woman, in the bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel, where she is taking a break from a date. As she finishes her makeup, she notices a wallet located in a purse by the sink. The urge to steal the wallet becomes an internal conflict and flashes to Sasha explaining the situation and feelings to her therapist, Coz. The scene at the restaurant is continued by side thoughts of Coz prying into Sasha’s brain, fully analyzing her thoughts. The date continues with Alex, the man whom Sasha is on a date with, and they are leaving the restaurant when the victim of Sasha’s stealing begins to publicly ask for help to look for her wallet. Alex begins to help her along with others, and Sasha begins to panic and recedes into the bathroom where the lady finds her with the wallet in hand. In her Xanax infused episode, Sasha begs the woman to not tell anyone and she agrees because she can see the pain in Sasha’s eyes. This leads to Sasha and Alex leaving the restaurant, with no trouble, to head back to Sasha’s apartment. There Alex sees a large pile of Sasha’s prizes from stealing but he doesn’t pay much attention and they have sex. After, Alex is in the bathroom when she finds a slip of paper that says “I believe in you” in Alex’s wallet and she quietly steals it for herself.


Analysis: This chapter helps the reader gain an outline of Sasha and why she exhibits her behavior. The instinct to steal helps Egan come out swinging, grabbing one’s attention by making everyone wonder why Sasha was thieving something important to someone on a clear impulse decision. The change of setting to Sasha speaking to Coz gives more insight into Sasha as a character by revealing some of her issues, especially with theft and the absence of her father.. Coz, the therapist, tries to help her discover these issues by continuing her stories and trying to make the conversation more fluid. As Sasha gives back the wallet and confesses, we see a glimmer of hope for her, just pertaining to this chapter, but she then steals again at the end of the night. After her and Alex have Sex in Sasha’s apartment, Sasha goes into his wallet shows how she doesn’t plan on having this instance reoccur, along with showing her problem is continuing. The stealing of the note represents her constant attempt to cover up the hole inside that causes the theft, but also shows how she can’t and doesn’t feel a connection to Alex, therefore highlighting her character as an individual to the reader. The note also represents how Sasha gather’s her stolen things to remember old friends and occurrences, but usually severs ties.

Chapter II: The Gold Cure

Summary: The chapter begins and we are introduced to Bennie Salazar, who is a music producer in New York City. Bennie is constantly reliving and flashing back to the past because of his habitual attention to his Shame list. This list consists of everything Bennie has ever done and regretted. Bennie has to put gold flakes in his coffee because lately he has experienced a lack of sexual desire and this is rumored to be the helping hand. Bennie continues to live in the past as he goes and picks up his son from his ex wife’s house, by listening to old punk that had the raw sound he misses. As that occurs, Bennie begins to ponder about the constant digitization of music that is losing the original grittiness he fell in love with. Bennie’s sons name is Chris, and Chris’s mother, Bennie’s ex-wife, is Stephanie. To try to connect with Chris, Bennie takes him to do things that Stephanie would not approve of and he calls the experiences “Betrayal Bonds”. Bennie takes Chris to a studio where the Stop/Go Sisters, a band that Bennie is producing, are playing. Sasha, Bennie’s assistant is at the studio and through listening and viewing their conversations, Chris figures out that the gold flakes are medicine and wants some. As they return from downtown and are driving Chris home, Bennie gives Chris a flake of the medicine and offers some to Sasha. Once Chris gets out of the car, it is silent and Bennie watches in silence and sadness. Sasha knows not to say anything and let Bennie sulk.

Analysis: The chapter begins and its clear Bennie is frustrated with life currently. Between the gold flakes and the anger towards technology in music, it shows how his character is in some sort of mid-life crisis occurrence. The shame list helps support that because he is reflecting on old-times and misses the past or is trying to gain feeling by learning the mistakes he has made by reliving the moments in his head. As he feels frustrated with life at the moment, the crisis continues with him believing he isn’t prevalent enough in his son’s life. This is why he feels the need to take Chris to do things Stephanie wouldn’t approve of. By the alteration in Bennie’s attitude throughout the chapter, it helps display a sort of false excitement as he takes Chris the show where an old band he is trying feel connected with is playing. As he drops Chris off, after the adventure, he snaps back to feeling desperate for connections to music, but mostly to his son Chris and this gives insight to how his attitude that was positive, in this chapter, was forced. His assistant Sasha is aware of Bennie’s feelings by staying quiet in the car, and this makes it seem like he has been acting this way for quite some time. 

Chapter III: Ask Me If I Care

Summary: Chapter three is narrated by Rhea. It begins with Rhea, Jocelyn, Alice, Bennie, and Scotty going to sleep in Alice’s house, who is a black sheep in the group, growing up with money. Rhea explains that they are all in a band called “The Flaming Dildos” and gives a breakdown of the group’s dynamic. Rhea is in love with Bennie who is in love with Alice who is in love with Scotty who is in love with Jocelyn, Rhea’s best friend. Jocelyn is waiting for a man named Lou who picked her up hitchhiking. Jocelyn describes her sexual encounters with Lou to Rhea, who feels betrayed that this happened without her since they have “done everything together.”

The next day the group goes to a concert following a rehearsal for The Flaming Dildos. Rhea loves these concerts because her skin and sweat touch those of “real punks,” which she feels that she is not because of her wide collection of freckles covering her face. According to her, real punks cannot have freckles. The next Saturday Jocelyn goes out with Lou instead of the band, who goes to Alice’s house. Alice shows Rhea her old school uniforms and frog collection, offhandedly mentioning Rhea and Jocelyn’s inside jokes.

Bennie tells the group that he has booked them a concert at the “Mab”, which is a coveted stage for punk bands. Jocelyn calls Lou who is a record producer, and invites him to the concert. He agrees and takes Rhea and Jocelyn to dinner where they do cocaine. Rhea, Jocelyn, and Lou watch the concert together, but Rhea grows increasingly uncomfortable because of Jocelyn and Lou’s relationship. After the concert the whole band goes back to Lou’s apartment. Rhea and Lou share a bonding moment on the balcony of his apartment when she confides in him about her insecurities, despite the fact that she hates him.

Analysis: Chapter three primarily focuses on identity. Rhea feels that she is not a “real punk” because she has freckles, but when she goes to concerts and her sweat mixes with the sweat of real punks she feels much closer. In Lou’s house Rhea (about Bennie) thinks to herself, “You will never know how much I understand you.” It is as if Rhea understands Bennie more than she understands herself. This chapter shows how little self awareness people have while simultaneously being able to understand other people fully. Jennifer Egan wants readers to understand that the only way to become a real punk is to believe that you are one. The people that Rhea describes as real punks are only real because she views them that way, while those same people may feel that they are not real punks at all.

Chapter IV: Safari

Summary: Chapter four describes a trip to Africa with Lou, his new girlfriend Mindy, and his children Rolph and Charlene. It takes place in the 1970s and is told in three parts: Grass, Hills, and Sand.

Grass: We are given a brief background of Lou’s life which includes two failed marriages, countless affairs, and many children, although only Rolph and Charlene were brought on the trip. Charlene is fourteen at the time, and becomes increasingly interested in a particular Samburu warrior who is nineteen. The novel jumps to the future, informing readers that he will die in a fire caused by tribal conflicts, and that his grandson will attend Columbia University and marry a girl named Lulu, who comes up in other chapters. Jumping back to the 1970s in Africa, Lou takes a walk with his son Rolph, complaining that Charlene has been acting “crazy.” When Rolph asks why, he simply replies with “women are crazy.” Rolph insists that his mother is not crazy and Lou agrees saying that she is not crazy enough.

Hills: This section focusses on Mindy, an anthropology student at Berkeley. Through her studies, she is able to predict the ways in which people will behave, and this section is told mostly through these predictions. She predicts that Charlene will dislike her because of Structural Resentment, that Rolph will like her because of Structural Affection, that Mindy and Lou’s relationship is inevitably doomed due to Structural Incompatibility, and that she will be inexplicably attracted to Albert because of Structural Desire. While on a safari, Chronos, one of the tourists is attacked by a lion, but Albert shoots the Lion before Chronos is killed. Rolph senses something strange between Mindy and Albert and begins to dislike Mindy.

Sand: Five days later, Lou, Mindy, Rolph, and Charlene go to the beach where Rolph tells Lou about his encounter with Mindy and Albert. Lou suddenly becomes very angry which in turn angers Rolph, but instead of taking Lou’s side Rolph is angered by his father’s reaction. Later that night Lou is much more affectionate towards Mindy, and Charlene predicts that they will get married. The narrator gives readers a view of the future, saying that Charlene will join a cult in Mexico at eighteen and die shortly after of salmonella poisoning. Then the narrator informs readers that Mindy will in fact marry Lou and have a big family before he leaves her with little money, struggling to support her children.

Analysis: This chapter gives readers insight on Lou’s life through his children. We can better understand the ways in which he treats and thinks about women through his conversation with Rolph. He rides women off entirely as being crazy, yet failing to realize his own shortcomings as a father and a husband. In the previous chapter he seems to know Rhea better than she knows herself, yet has a total lack of self awareness himself. Mindy can predict the actions of every person on the trip, yet fails to predict the consequences of marrying Lou. Charlene knows her father well enough to realize that he is in fact going to marry Mindy but does not know herself well enough to stop her future of salmonella poisoning. Jennifer Egan’s characters all lack identity and self awareness, which she is suggesting is a major problem facing society. When the narrator provides insight into the future of all of these characters it serves to show how little control people have over their own lives (A to B) and suggests that a reason for this is a lack of self awareness.

Chapter V: You (Plural)

Summary: The year is 1999, and Lou is close to death following his second stroke. Jocelyn is narrating. Lou’s contacted Jocelyn and Rhea, and they are there to visit him. Jocelyn and Rhea are shocked by the fact that Lou is old, because his personality when he was young seemed like someone who would never grow old. They catch up, talking about their kids and what they’re doing with their lives. Jocelyn lives with her mom and Rhea has three kids. After seeing how old Lou’s become, Jocelyn starts to cry, because she realizes that she had wasted a huge amount of time with a man who turned out to be old and alone, and Rhea had three children. Lou, on his bed, is rolled outside to by the pool. Jocelyn casually asks Lou about Rolph, forgetting that he’d died many years before. Lou starts to cry, and this greatly angers Jocelyn. She daydreams about pushing Lou into the pool and drowning him. She comes back to reality and says to Lou: “‘I should kill you,’” to which he responds, “‘Too late’”. Then Rhea and Jocelyn stand on either side of Lou, holding his hands, as he looks at his “world” in silence.

Analysis: The major theme in this chapter is time. Twenty years back, these characters were in the same circle, and they were similar to each other. Now that all that time has passed, these characters are entirely different from each other. The effects of Jocelyn’s early life are evident as she still doesn’t have kids, even though she wants them, also she still lives with her mother and is trying to get her B.A.. Lou has been affected the most by time, as it’s made him an old man. Jocelyn becomes very angry when she realizes the negative effect Lou’s had on her life and Rolph’s over a huge amount of time. It really hits her that her life was effectively ruined by Lou, and that the time she spent with him was pointless, because he turned out to be so old and alone.

Chapter VI: X's and O's

Summary: Scotty, narrating, is at a park when he reads that Bennie is a successful record producer and that he’d won an award, remembering how he’d won Alice over him back in the day. Scotty writes Bennie a letter of congratulations. The day after Bennie replies, Scotty goes fishing and catches a big striped-bass. He then decides to visit Bennie’s office just to have have a talk with an old friend. He gets there, and the receptionist, Sasha, shows him in. The office is really nice. He offers Bennie the fish but he refuses. Scotty then reflects on the two’s current situations in life. Scotty is divorced and without kids, and Bennie is married, he has a son, and he’s a very successful record producer. Scotty realizes that Bennie is a “big shot” now, and that the two will never be friends again. He asks Bennie how they got from point A to point B. Point A was back when they were kids in a band together, and point was the present. Bennie’s response was that he had “‘busted (his) balls’”. Bennie then gave Scotty his card, and Scotty leaves. Soon after leaving, he realizes he left the fish in Bennie’s office, and this makes im laugh. While walking later, Scotty gives Bennie’s card to a couple of musicians, urging them to call Bennie saying Scotty sent them. They thanked him. At the end of the chapter, he decides to get his jacket cleaned, because he’d been somewhere.

Analysis: This chapter’s theme is also time. Bennie and Scotty used to be in the same band, chasing the same girl (Alice). Now they gone from that (point A) to the present situation in which Bennie is a successful record producer with a wife and a son, while Scotty is a sort-of musician with little money and a divorce (point B). Scotty directly references the topic of the passage of time when he talks about point A and B. The need for Scotty to dryclean his jacket because he’s done something is a way for him to feel more meaningful. The complete difference in quality of life between Bennie and Scotty makes Scotty very self-conscious about his own worth, because in their case, time has taken two people of the same origin and given them lives on opposite ends of the happiness spectrum.

Chapter VII: A to B

Summary: Bennie and his wife, Stephanie, move to Crandale, an elite suburb of New York City during the height of Bennie’s career (around 2002). Because of their alternative lifestyle and appearances, which stand out against their otherwise blonde and caucasian neighbors, Bennie and Stephanie are quickly established as outcasts of the Crandale society. In an attempt to reach acceptance they join the country club where Stephanie finally befriends Kathy, who holds the power to elevate Stephanie’s position in the societal pecking order. Although Stephanie dislikes Kathy, she becomes dedicated to her twice a week tennis matches at the country club with Kathy as her partner. Although his wife is now rising in Crandale society, Bennie has continued to be shunned based on his ethnicity and last name. The struggle comes to a boiling point when some neighbors accuse Bennie of being a spy for Al Qaeda. Having been disrespected, Bennie decides to distance his family from their neighbors which Stephanie agrees to, although she does not keep her promise and continues to play tennis with Kathy. Now, having to go behind Bennie’s back and lie constantly, Stephanie becomes worried. One day her lie fails, forcing her to take her brother Jules to a publicity meeting with musician Bosco in New York City.

Jules, who just got released from jail for the attempted rape of actress Kitty Jackson, has been living with his sister while on parole but without a job to keep him busy he has become an irritation to support. Bosco, who is the former lead guitarist of the famous band The Conduits, has become morbidly obese and unhealthy. He presents a plan to Jules and Stephanie to have one last suicide tour in which he wants his “death to be an attraction, a spectacle, a mystery.” She disagrees with the idea, but Jules is wholeheartedly interested.

Upon returning to her home in Crandale, Stephanie discovers a gold bobby pin and realizes that Bennie is having an affair once again, but this time with her “friend” Kathy. Feeling overwhelmed and broken, she stumbles to the edge of her garden where she has a strange interaction with her neighbor, Noreen.

Analysis: The only reason Bennie and Stephanie moved to Crandale, a place they didn’t fit in, was to prove their power and accomplishments. For Bennie this meant getting as far away from his humble origins as possible. Even though they made it to this point, they could never remove themselves from the past both in their behavior and appearances (hispanic heritage, tattoos, dark hair). Egan develops the argument that you can never deny your true nature because life is an accumulation of thoughts and memories which cause us to reach the place we are in at this point on our lives and influence present day decisions. This concept pairs with the idea of A to B, or how each character’s past decisions set them down a specific path in life. Although they may run away from their past like Bennie or try to regain youthfulness like Bosco, life is understood in the acceptance of all its aspects. This chapter provides insight to what happened to Bennie in between chapters 2 and 3 which showed his teenage years and a few years after this chapter where he is divorced and unhappy.

Chapter VIII: Selling the General

Summary: Dolly, or “La Doll,” was once Stephanie’s boss and the most respected publicist in New York. Now she has become a nobody who struggles to make ends meet for her and her daughter. It is revealed throughout the chapter that her demise came from the infamous party where boiling oil was spilled all over her celebrity guests, permanently disfiguring some. When she is contacted to be the publicist for a horrible dictator/general who has committed atrocities against his own people, Dolly accepts because she desperately needs the money. She feels guilty but justifies her actions by reminding herself that as a publicist it is not her place to judge her clients. In order to soften the Generals public persona, she hires the washed-out actress Kitty Jackson to pretend to be romantically interested in him. To accomplish this, Kitty, Dolly and her daughter Lulu travel to the General’s undisclosed location under heavy armed protection and stage a meeting for Dolly to snap secret pictures of the encounter. The plan worked miraculously until Kitty Jackson became over-confident and blatantly disrespected the General, calling him out for his actions. This resulted in her being held hostage by him while Lulu and Dolly were quickly sent home. Thoroughly shaken by the experience, Dolly released the photos to the public before abandoning her job and moving to upstate New York where she opened a gourmet food shop.

Analysis: The infamous party that Dolly describes as the exact moment of her fall from success and power, which she was shown having in Chapter 7, is a clear example of how one moment can change the trajectory of a person’s entire life. This theme is repeated in other parts of the book and is closely linked to the idea of from point A to B. In cases other than Dolly’s, the character cannot pinpoint the moment their lives diverged and took a downward turn and are left constantly wondering how they ended up in the situation they’re in now. This is the case for Scotty and Jocelyn who are less happy and successful than their friends Bennie and Rhea. Dolly’s example is the first in A Visit from the Goon Squad where the character is acutely aware of why their life changed and eventually takes charge of it rather than just constantly searching through the past to figure out where they went wrong.

Chapter IX: Forty Minute Lunch: Kitty Jackson Opens Up About Love, Fame, and Nixon!

Summary: Chapter 9 chronicles celebrity interviewer Jules Jones and his conversation with young, beautiful actress Kitty Jackson. He is given a 40 minute window to interview her, and in the first five minutes Kitty is on the phone with someone else, leading Jules to analyze her under the criteria of “nice stars” and “difficult stars.” As the two proceed to discuss fame and Kitty’s newest movie, Jules begins to dig at her with a more irritating line of questioning to bring out her hostile side. The tense discussion fluctuates between friendliness and malice, and the two eventually show signs of vulnerability and raw emotion. Jules convinces Kitty to take a walk with him through a park, extending the 40 minute time span of the original interview. In an abrupt turn of events, Jules sexually assaults Kitty in public as well as in broad daylight, and Kitty retaliates with pepper spray and a Swiss Army knife. Jules is arrested and jailed on $500,000 bond. Kitty’s celebrity status skyrockets as she rides waves of sympathy and compassion.

Analysis: The central theme is the gap created by social status, and the envy and lust that underlie it. Jules wants to sexually provoke Kitty Jackson because he views her as an idol: pure and perfect, who can heal him of his mediocrity (or failure) by contact or association. His musings about Kitty’s naivete also imply that perhaps with such heightened social status comes a lack of understanding of the real world, which may, contradictory to Jules’s belief, put the common man at an advantage.

Chapter X: Out of Body

Summary: Chapter 10 is narrated by Rob, a college friend of Sasha briefly mentioned earlier in the novel, not long after he attempted suicide. He examines his surroundings, including Sasha’s boyfriend, Drew, whom he introduces as a diehard political activist and not a team player. After witnessing Sasha kiss Drew on the neck, Rob storms out the window to the fire escape, causing commotion among the others in the apartment with his rudeness and anger. He comes back in, to deliver a teary-eyed apology to Lizzie, the owner of the apartment, and muses about how part of him was the one apologizing and part of him was an observer watching himself apologize. He wonders which one is really him. He leaves the apartment with Drew and Sasha, but when Drew departs, Rob and Sasha go to a bar. While Rob poses as Sasha’s fake boyfriend, they tell each other something that would make it impossible for them to go on a real date. Here we are given a glimpse into Sasha’s formative years of theft, and Rob’s one homosexual experience. The chapter backtracks to Rob bunking with Sasha before she met Drew, and Rob’s regret he didn’t have sex with her. Back in the present, Rob and Drew take Ecstasy as they wait with Sasha outside a club to hear a band, and. Rob becomes somewhat detached and yearns for Drew to be his brother. Bix meets up with them and after a night of partying at after-hours clubs, they stand by East River after daybreak. They discuss connectedness, and how they don’t want to ever forget each other, even after they grow apart. As they walk back, Rob tells Drew that he doesn’t really know Sasha; that she was a hooker and a thief in Naples. Drew reacts sourly to this, and an air of aggression manifests between them. Drew then abruptly takes off his clothes and jumps into the East River. Rob follows but cannot hold his own in the water the way Drew can, and he drowns.

Analysis: In this chapter, Rob deals in a broad range of emotions: regret, ambition, self-control, and envy. The events Rob recollects, and the events that transpire, suggest that Rob is an emotionally unstable individual caught in his fears, regrets, and analysis of other’s behavior. These lead to a tendency to provoke others abruptly, which eventually results in his demise. While the author may not mean to suggest that one eradicate the very human tendencies of fear, regret, and over-analysis, she may mean to suggest that human nature can be destructive in its rawest form.

Chapter XI: Goodbye, My Love

Summary: Chapter 11 follows Ted Hollander, Sasha’s uncle, as he attempts to find her in Naples after she disappears and loses contact with her family. Initially, instead of actively seeking Sasha, Ted, an art history professor, detours to visit a museum he’d been longing to visit. Meanwhile, he’s receiving calls from his family a segue to insight into Ted’s relationship with his wife, as in how he “took the passion he felt for (her) and folded it in half.” He then has an awkward conversation with his son Alfred and describes the many sports (and activities he wishes not to recognize as sports) his three sons play. When he sees a particular sculpture he had been wishing to see in the museum, he is astonished by its magnificent beauty, finding himself excited to feel such euphoria that he had not felt in years from a work of art. Exiting the museum, he stumbles upon Sasha buying a cigarette and walking with a limp. He follows her and eventually confronts her, awkwardly interrogates her before the two agree to meet for dinner. Ted dives into the past, recalling having to babysit Sasha during her parent’s big fights and remembering his conversations with an intelligent young Sasha. Back in the present, they go to dinner and Sasha talks about her time traveling the globe and how she thought she would see her AWOL father in crowds. During this conversation, Sasha nabs Ted’s wallet undetected. The next morning Ted sets off to retrieve the wallet and find Sasha. He finds her building, and bribes an old woman to direct him towards Sasha. When he finally finds Sasha, she locks him out of the room for what seems like hours, after which they more peacefully converse.

Analysis: This chapter is heavy on Sasha’s backstory and context to her other appearances in the novel. The reader is exposed to her early childhood, which would partly explain her actions thereafter, and finally comes to understand the details of her escapades in Naples alluded to earlier in the book. Sasha’s remark at the end of the chapter, regarding the view out the window as “hers,” is likely a reference to Sasha’s insatiable desire for possessions.

Chapter XII: Great Rock 'n' Roll Pauses

Summary: Sasha’s daughter, Alison, narrates this chapter in the form of a powerpoint presentation which acts as her personal diary. The story is overall fragmented but is structured into four main sections. In the first section “After Lincoln’s Game” the reader learns that Sasha married her college boyfriend, Drew, and had two kids, Alison and Lincoln who is slightly autistic. Lincoln is obsessed with the pauses in music which Sasha supports and talks to him about it but Drew is concerned with his infatuation. The family lives in the California desert and Drew is a doctor so he is always away from home helping people but ignoring his family. In part two “In My Room” the reader learns how Sasha reconnected with Drew after college and how she avoids talking about her past, including her time working for Bennie. Alison is often annoyed by her mother and brings up her past to purposefully put Sasha on the spot, making her uncomfortable. Sasha creates sculptures in the desert from random trash and household items. In part three “One Night Later” Alison discusses how they all love their dad but he doesn’t understand Lincoln’s quirks to the point that he makes Lincoln cry by yelling at him about his obsession. The last part, “The Desert” is where Drew and Alison take a long walk into the desert and watch the solar panels move at night. Alison feels as though they have been in the desert so long that it will be years and years into the future by they time they return home, but of course everything is exactly the same. After their walk, Drew starts to try understanding Lincoln’s obsession by helping him graph the pauses.

Analysis: The chapter being written in powerpoint form instead of in a more traditional story-line turns what would be an otherwise eloquently worded story and turns it into a disjointed yet still factually intact narrative. when the plot is broken up into small graphics where only a few sentences at a time can be shared, there is only room for facts and so the majority of figurative language and imagery is removed. Although the reader loses some substance to the format, the graphic nature of her powerpoint slides add in visual information that requires no words to understand. This formating is an example of how Egan uses postmodernism in this book. Chapter 12 is marked by the symbol of pauses in music which is meant to show the perceived stopping of time although it is always continuous. The characters feel as though they are in a state where time is irrelevant when they listen to a pause, but even in that state they continue on and learn to appreciate the return to normality because it means they are still alive.

Chapter XIII: Pure Language 

Summary: The chapter opens with Alex and a much older Bennie talking in Alex’s apartment, their two young daughters are playing together on the carpet and their wives are in the kitchen. While they’re talking, Alex tries to remember the name of the girl who he went on a date with once who worked for Bennie (Sasha). Bennie is interested in hiring Alex as an underground promoter for Scotty Hausman’s first ever live show. Alex agrees and begins to secretly promote the show through his network of friends. The scene changes. Alex is talking to Bennie’s young assistant, Lulu. The two discuss the drastically different world they live in now and text using futuristic shorthand on their cellphones. Alex, his wife, and their daughter Cara-Ann go to Scotty’s show. Alex is called backstage to find that Scotty is refusing to go onstage. Scotty tries to run for it and Alex stops him. Lulu comes and guides Scotty to the stage. The show is a huge success. During the show, Alex remember’s Sasha’s name and asks Bennie about her. Bennie responds by telling him that Sasha was fired years ago for stealing. Together, they walk to where Sasha used to live only to find that she has moved. They both hear someone behind them and whirl around, hoping that it’s Sasha but it’s only some other unknown girl.

Analysis: Chapter 13 focuses primarily on the personal growth of the characters. Set several years in the future, we see Alex go from single and new to New York City to married and with a complex network of friends. Lulu goes from a little girl to a capable and successful young woman. Bennie is married once again and Scotty is finally a famous musician. The chapter also connects the beginning of the book to the end of the book. It begins with Sasha and Alex’s date and ends with Alex remembering Sasha from all those years ago and attempting to find her. At her apartment, Alex and Bennie see another young woman who appears to be new to New York. By doing this, Egan gives the reader a sense of completion, coming full circle, and of beginning a new cycle.

Character Descriptions and Analysis

Sasha Grady
One of the main characters of the book and first appearing as Bennie’s assistant. Sasha Grady experiences her non-ideal childhood, teenage years involving extreme points of view and her adulthood, where she tries to create the most normal environment in response to the previous years, in the novel A Visit From the Goon Squad. Throughout the book, Sasha experiences some issues especially with addiction. She sees a therapist regularly to try to attend to her frequent stealing and drug problems. After running away from her original home setting, with her Uncle, she flees to Naples where she continues life as a hooker for the Pimp Lars. Once she is finished with Naples, she moves back to Manhattan, attends college and meets Drew, whom she marries and has two children with. Sasha is considered one of the main characters because of her ties to certain other significant characters such as Alex, Rob, and Bennie. They all were drawn to her at certain times and are extremely affected by her presence. The Sasha Grady character, as a whole, helps expand on the character spider web of connections that Egan has created.

The General
One of the most random characters, the General is a genocidal dictator that is attempting to avoid being murdered and targeted for his crimes. The CIA is constantly trying to assassinate him so he goes to Dolly to try and improve his media image, in an attempt to prevent further attacks. It is clear he is only concerned with himself by displaying very little emotion and desires to only protect himself and his position. As he desperately tries to have Dolly believe, to make the American people believe, that the genocidal acts are rumors, he serves as a role for Egan to display the importance of social media and how influential it is on the American public. Not only that, but this also help reflects the time because even a genocidal dictator knows the extent of social media coverage he needs to gain American sympathy. Kitty speaks her mind and confronts him about lying and this also helps Egan show more examples of rebellion amongst younger people. Ultimately, the General displays his power to be dangerous by capturing Kitty after she publicly humiliated him.

Jules Jones
After graduating from University of Michigan, he goes and stays with his sister, Stephanie, at NYU to pursue writing, which leads to partying. As he progresses into the seen, he gets a Job at Harper’s and from there shares an apartment with three roommates. Each is significant because they all go off to become grand things such as magazine editors and Pulitzer Prize winners. Jules doesn’t to the same success as them because he becomes involved in a hairy situation. He is charged and found guilty for the attempted rape of Kitty during an interview, and in result, is forced to attend a correctional facility for approximately five years. After serving his time and attempting to treat his issues, such as being bipolar, Jules moves into Bennie and Stephanie’s house. This is where he tries to jump back into journalism by doing pieces on Bosco, an old dying musician. Through Egan’s narrative choice, and unlocking of Jules's brain, we learn how he has hasn’t completely escaped the dark thoughts that caused him to act out in his past.

Jocelyn
Rhea’s best friend since fourth grade, and Scotty’s major crush, Jocelyn is one of the members of the original friend group in San Francisco, California. She is midway through her teenage years, sixteen, and has a beautiful half Chinese face, lots of ear piercings, and black hair that is not uniformly cut. As she finds herself crazed by Lou, an older man, she willingly is drawn into a lifestyle involving mistreatment, sex, and heavy drug use. She progresses into the punk scene with her other friends Rhea and Alice, but is drawn away by Lou and she runs away with him to Los Angeles. Lou brings out a side of Jocelyn that isn’t familiar to her friends, and this way Egan helps display elder’s influence on the easily swooned youth. The book continues and since Lou is near death, Rhea and Jocelyn come together again for his passing. By doing this, Jocelyn reflects how her decisions have caused her to end up living with her mom and pursuing a degree at UCLA. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it reflects how her past decisions caused her to push off important details and now she is completing more uniform activities to attempt at a normal lifestyle. Rhea contrasts this because she is married and lives in Seattle, and this helps serve as an example of where Jocelyn wants to end up. Jocelyn represents many stereo-typical point of views about teens becoming runaways once exposed to punk music and the faster lifestyle.

Charlie

Lou’s 14-year-old daughter, who is somewhat defiant of her father. She is resentful of Mindy and tries everything in her power to distract her father from Mindy. When she grows up, she becomes more coarse and daring, acquiring a cocaine addiction and joining a Mexican cult. She eventually detaches from this version of herself and reverts back to her birth name, Charlene.

Bennie Salazar
Bennie is a music producer, record label executive, and former seventies punk rocker in San Francisco. He lives in New York City, is Latino, has a son named Chris, was once married to a woman named Stephanie, and is Sasha’s employer. Bennie suffers from frequently remembering embarrassing memories and a decreased sex drive. He fears becoming irrelevant as he ages. These fears and ailments are representative of the theme “time is a goon.” Bennie desires to return to his youth (which time has taken from him), regrets how he has lived his life, and fears what time might take from him in the future.

Kitty Jackson
Kitty Jackson is a formerly famous starlet who, after ten years, has become irrelevant and looks a little worse for wear. Her biggest claim to fame is being sexually assaulted by reporter Jules Jones. She also has self-inflicted burns to make it appear that she was at Dolly's infamous party. Dolly enlists her to pretend to be in a relationship with The General in order to make him more appealing to the public. However, during their meeting, Kitty insults The General and is captured by his goons. She is not heard from after that but we are told that she is safe. Kitty’s life experience reflects the theme “time is a goon.” As time passes, Kitty is robbed of her fame and her looks.

Lincoln Blake
Lincoln, or “Linc,” is the son of Sasha and Drew and the older brother of Alison. He is 13 at the time when chapter 12 takes place and is somewhat autistic, being obsessed with rock songs with pauses in them. Lincoln cannot explain why he likes those songs so much, which frustrates his father and causes some tension between them. The pauses are an important symbol in the novel because they represent time passing.

Alex
Alex first appears in the first chapter of the book, going on a date with Sasha. He later appears in the last chapter of the book married, with a baby daughter, and working as a promoter for one of Bennie’s upcoming artists, Scotty Hausmann. Alex is meant to represent transformation, appearing in the first chapter a seemingly irrelevant minor character and later re-emerging with new meaning and relevance because of the relationships he has established with some of the other characters. He also shows the reader the interconnectedness of everyone in the novel.

Rolph

Lou’s 11-year-old son, who seems to be the only person capable of soothing his father. He accepts Mindy because he has not yet learned how to distinguish his father’s desires from his own. During his teenage years, he has a romantic relationship with Jocelyn (they are the exact same age). As he grows older he becomes estranged from his father and kills himself at 28.

Bosco
Bosco is the lead guitarist of Bennie’s most successful band The Conduits, and also becomes a close family friend. At his peak of life he is described as, “scrawny… a hive of redheaded mania who made Iggy Pop look indolent onstage” (pg. 125). Although he was an energetic performer in his youth, the reader only sees Bosco years later as a washed-out and morbidly obese man with a plethora of health issues. Bosco is central to the theme of point A to B, because he constantly yearns to regain his youth to the point that he would rather die trying to obtain that illusion than just fade away. To achieve this goal he decides to embark on a suicide tour where he will perform with just as much energy as in his prime even if it will most likely kill him. Bosco also coins the phrase “time is a goon” (pg…) which relates to the book’s title, saying that time is the ultimate force of destruction that brings an end to youth and good moments in life.

Lou Kline
Seen primarily when he is in his forties and at the top of his career as a music producer, Lou is described as wealthy, handsome and charismatic man. He is introduced as Jocelyn’s sexual partner while she is still in highschool and he is an adult with six children. Throughout his storyline the reader sees that he consistently goes for younger women because he refuses to let go of his youth and as long as he is still appealing to a young girl, he himself will feel young. The reader never discovers Lou’s point A, but the story does show Lou on his deathbed as he slowly fades away from old age. The house that jocelyn once described as having endless parties is now quiet and forgotten, proving that time takes away everything in the end.

Scotty Hausman
Scotty is Bennie’s best friend when they are teenagers and a member of their band The Flaming Dildos. In his youth Scotty is attractive to all the girls even getting with (and eventually marrying) Alice who Bennie really liked, but as an adult he becomes a janitor with an unkempt and startling appearance to those who knew him. Scotty tries to convince himself through his adult life that he can experience things vicariously through other people and receive just as much pleasure as they did in an attempt to justify his lack of success in both personal and business life. It becomes clear that this is untrue when Scotty compares his life to Bennie’s and starts to contemplate how they both started with the same point A but wound up in such different circumstances.Scotty does eventually find musical success, even if he didn’t seek it, many years in the future with the help of Bennie who feels guilty for having been so much more successful and is trying to give Scotty a taste of what he had when he was at his peak.

Ted Hollander
Appears in chapter 11 which is from his perspectiveTed is Sasha's uncle who goes to search for her in Naples during her destructive late-teen years. He is an art history teacher and spends most of his time in italy avoiding searching for Sasha by touring art museums. He doesn’t avoid her out of lack of love but the quite the opposite, because ted does not want to see what has possibly become of the fragile little girl he adored as a child.His chapter is important because it sheds light on Sasha’s point A that she personally avoided discussing in other chapters. From an outside perspective, the reader gets to see how broken she was in this time and how her kleptomaniac tendencies really began.

Dolly/La Doll
Dolly used to be head of the publicity agency where Stephanie works, but is now just a poor single mother. Her fall from grace is due to a disastrous party that she hosted in which burning oil was poured all over her celebrity guests. Dolly is now working for The General to improve his public image. She doesn't approve of the things her client has done in the past but still takes the job because she needs the money. Dolly's transition is representative of the motif of Point A to Point B. She undergoes a major event in her life that transforms her from a famous publicist to a nobody.

Lulu Peale
Dolly’s daughter resulting from Dolly becoming pregnant by a musician. Despite the unfortunate nature of her creation, Lulu is intelligent and popular at the prestigious private school she attends. She is embarrassed by what her mother has become and does her best to hide her from her friends. Lulu grows up to attend Barnard and work as Bennie's assistant. Lulu embodies the theme of personal development and passage of time in the novel. Seeing her first as a young girl and then as a young woman, the reader gets a sense of the effects of time on the characters.

Alice
Alice is a member of the San Francisco punk group back in the 70s. Bennie is in love with her but she has a crush on Scotty. Scotty and Alice eventually get together (and later get married and divorced) but only because Scotty's main crush, Jocelyn, isn't available. Alice comes from a rich, upper-class family and has two younger sister. She feels inhibited by her background because, as long as she leads a privileged life, she can never be a real punk. Alice went to private school until 9th grade and still has all her old uniforms in her closet. These uniforms symbolize her wealth and privilege.

Alison Blake
Alison is the 12-year-old daughter of Sasha and Drew and the younger sister of Lincoln. Chapter 12 is an excerpt from Alison's powerpoint presentation that serves as her diary. Alison gets along well with her father even though her isn't home much but purposefully goes out of her way to annoy her mom. She also gets along well with her brother, Lincoln, supporting his interest in pauses in rock music. Alison gives a unique perspective on Sasha's life after marriage and how she has changed.

Alfred

Alfred is Ted’s moody, unpredictable son who, like his brothers, plays nearly every sport, spreading his time thin. Though he appears only briefly in the novel for a conversation with his father in chapter 11, Alfred’s line “There’s no time... Time is running out” is one of the stronger allusions to the central theme of time in the novel and its transforming and sometimes adversarial nature.

Drew Blake
Drew Blake first appears in chapter 10, as a friend of Rob and the boyfriend of Sasha in their college years. He is described as ambitions, planning on attending law school post graduation. He was present when Rob drowned in the Hudson river, which eventually motivated him to change career paths and become a doctor, saving lives to make up for his failure to save Rob. This fits into the novel’s theme of A to B, showing how one event completely changed the course of Drew’s life. He later appears in chapter 12, written from his daughter Alison’s point of view. By this time he is married to Sasha with two children, Alison and Lincoln. He is described as a “good man” by friends and is mostly depicted as a kind father, although he has a hard time connecting to his youngest son, Lincoln. This is both disheartening and uplifting to readers. Portrayed as possibly the most put together of all of Jennifer Egan’s characters, it is disappointing to see that even he has significant problems. This can also be reassuring, proving that even the most seemingly stable people deal with character flaws.

Rob Freeman
The only chapter Rob narrated is chapter 10, although he was also mentioned in chapter twelve. He was best friends with Sasha throughout college and developed a friendship with Drew as well. He struggled with his interest in both of these characters, admitting that he was in love with Sasha and hinting at his attraction to Drew, although it was never completely clear whether this was jealousy or attraction. He struggled with depression through his college years, climaxing at his attempted suicide. His timeline ended abruptly when he drowned in the Hudson River and Drew failed to save him, adding to the naturalistic sense that this book provides as well and illustrating the lack of control that people have over their own lives.

Rhea
Chapter three depicts Rhea in high school where she was a member of the Flaming Dildos and was friends with Bennie, Scotty, Alice, and Jocelyn, although she shared a much stronger bond with Jocelyn. She struggled with her identity, never feeling like a “true punk” which she blamed on her freckles. Throughout high school she experienced unrequited love for Bennie Salazar but eventually ended up married with three children which is described in chapter five, when she and Jocelyn visit Lou Kline. Rhea perfectly captures the self conscious teenager, hating aspects of her body and personality, and perfectly depicting the identity crisis that many young adults experience. However she grows up to be the most stable of her band mates proving that the way people grow and change is entirely unpredictable.

Stephanie
Stephanie was the wife of Bennie Salazar and the employee of La Doll. She narrates chapter seven, and is mentioned as Bennie’s ex-wife in chapter two. Chapter seven describes her and Bennie’s life in Crandale, a conservative suburb in New York. Despite her and Bennie’s alternative lifestyle a a music promoter and producer, respectively, she finds herself desperately wanting to fit into Crandale’s orthodox lifestyle. While Rhea describes the identity crisis of a punk teenager, Stephanie illustrates these issues manifested in a seemingly content and confident adult.

Joe

The grandchild of an African warrior Charlie meets. He will inherit the warrior’s hunting dagger, go to college at Columbia to study engineering, and become an expert in robotic technology that detects irregular movement. He will marry Lulu and live in a loft in Tribeca. Though he makes only a brief appearance in the novel, the character conveys a strong message in how time yields change and ultimately progress, a technological genius, would be close offspring to a primitive tribal warrior.

Symbols and Motifs

Music:
Music is a symbol which seems to tie the entire novel together, stretching across chapters, characters, and decades. Besides being the primary link between all of Jennifer Egan’s characters, music serves as an alternative method of communication. Through music, Scotty was able to release pent up anger and turn it into something meaningful. It served as the main bond between Scotty and Bennie and reunited them once when they were young adults and again much later. Noting the pauses in music was the only was that Lincoln knew how to express his love to his father, and inviting Lou to a concert was the only way that Jocelyn felt comfortable enough to contact him. Jennifer Egan continuously explores the ways that people connect with each other and themselves, suggesting that music is a primary method.

Modern Culture:
Egan plays with the symbol of modern culture to show how generational gaps cause tension as new technology and societal norms constantly shift. Throughout the book the reader sees how the older generation objects to new trends because they seem inauthentic and different from what they understand. This is the case when Bennie rejects the modern music industry’s use of autotune and lack of real instruments. Alex and his wife in chapter 13 try to go against the modern trend by prohibiting their baby from using the handset until she is older. Modern culture relates back to the theme of A to B since the reason an older generation rejects the evolving culture is because they don’t want to feel outdated and they want everything to stay the same as it was in their youth.

Pauses:
The pauses in music represent the characters feeling as though time has momentarily stopped, although it of course in reality it never does. The symbol appears most in chapter 12 where Sasha’s daughter, Alison, discusses her brothers obsession with the pauses. With the characters constantly feeling like they’re moving forward from A to B and that their lives are slipping by them, pauses present them with an opportunity to relax, and in that state of limbo they find peace. Sasha states that, “The pause makes you think the song will end. And then the song isn’t really over, so you’re relieved”(pg. 281). Although the pauses present a state of existence outside of time, they feel renewed joy for their life because the song ending/stopping forever is a metaphor for them dying. “Every song ends, obviously, and THAT. TIME. THE. END. IS. FOR. REAL” (pg. 281).

Point A to Point B:
Throughout the novel, Egan uses the motif of moving from Point A to Point B to represent change and development in her characters as time progresses, Point A being the beginning point of a character’s life and Point B being a time later, after the character has experienced drastic changes. Often, Point B is much more difficult for the character, as time has taken from them their youth and success, and they yearn to return to Point A.

Egan represents Point A/Point B many times throughout the novel with symbols such as Bennie’s gold flakes (a way for him to possibly return to Point A) or Bosco’s upcoming album, literally titled “A to B.” This motif supports the theme of “time is a goon” and also, somewhat, the theme of music, as there is a side A and a side B to all vinyl records and cassettes.

Personal Identity:
Personal Identity is a crucial theme in A Visit from the Goon Squad. The novel is comprised of characters striving to improve their vision of themselves, which is actually what everyone strives for in life. Throughout the novel, the characters strive to find meaning in their lives. A direct example of this is when Scotty gets his jacket dry cleaned. He only does this when he’s “been somewhere,” because it makes him feel less worthless.

Technology:
Technology is a constant reoccurring symbol in Jennifer Egan’s novel, A Visit From The Goon Squad. Since the chronological order of the book isn’t followed directly in chapter order, symbols such as this one help display, and reflect, the time and change occurring. As the characters continue along their paths in life, technology comes into play by being commonly evident in chapters. Bennie Salazar displays his frustration with technology in the same chapter that he is confused about what time has done to him. Missing the rawness of his original favorite genre of music, he complains about how everything is to digitized and soon after the readers find out he has some form of erectile dysfunction. This helps draw a congruency between technology being progressed as the characters become older and their desire for the past has a stronger passion. When the novel shifts backwards in real time, readers can follow by being fully indulged into the specific period. This is done by constantly displaying use of technology in each chapter congruent to how free and happy the character is. This is to fully indulge the reader in the time setting that Egan desires.

Jennifer Egan reflects her true feelings on technology by implementing different character’s opinions on the gadgets, gear, etc… She obviously feels it’s an important characteristic that highlights not only change in time, but how people age. Certain characters that don’t explore their frustration with technology usually have a smoother route of life in the novel. Other characters, large or small, that experience trouble are usually the more extreme people or have had rougher paths. For example, the General attempts to convey his public image through media and technology. When he is humiliated by Kitty, he sends his men to capture her which proves he infact has not changed at all. Another example is, Bennie has divorced from his wife, feels disconnected from his son, and heavily describes his issue with modern music. Technology has apparently murdered the soul of it, in Bennie’s eyes, especially as he progresses more into his mid-life crisis. Characters such as Rhea don’t experience much trouble with technology because she took a smoother path and her absence of frustration reflects that. She ends up in Seattle, married with children. Egan portrays her point of view on technology changing society and culture, especially in music, through different characters as her medium.

Time:
Time is an important and prevalent motif in A Visit From the Goon Squad, mostly in how it is a powerful force for change and progress. The non sequential timeline reflects the way we as human beings interpret and respond to time and memory, and makes for a more true-to-life experience. There are constant blasts to the future even within chapters, wherein the reader is given insight into the futures and pasts of the characters. This usually serves to cement the idea that time can cause radical change quickly. This theme is strongly tied into technology, which serves to make the jumbled timeline more palatable as it clarifies where the reader is in the novel in regards to time.

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Pulitzer Prize Essay

Why A Visit from the Goon Squad Deserves the Pulitzer Prize

Since 1917, the Pulitzer Prize has been a very prestigious award for distinguished works in journalism, literature, and musical composition. Although the Pulitzer was originally centered around journalism, many other categories, including fiction, are very sought-after. The Pulitzer Prize has no set criteria, however the award has a history of awarding work that displays American life at the time when the work is published. Also, Pulitzer Prize winners are required to be American citizens. When Joseph Pulitzer created the prize for novels, he said “the American novel published during which shall best present the whole atmosphere of American life and the highest standard of American manners and manhood.” In A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan creates an excellent portrayal of American life in the twenty-first century.

One major aspect of American life that’s explored very thoroughly in this novel is the vast changes people’s lives undergo when they exit young adulthood. Back in the early eighties, the main characters in this story were on essentially the same path. Bennie, Rhea, Scotty, Jocelyn, and Alice were once just kids in the same band but as time passes they grow apart more than one can imagine. At one point, Bennie is a rich record producer with a wife and a kid, while Scotty is very poor and divorced. Later, Bennie’s hit bottom until he finds Scotty and makes him a successful musician. Another example of lives changing drastically over time is the character Lou. When Lou is middle-aged, he has many connections to different people. He has two kids who he goes to Africa with. He gets married again and has two more, and then two more with another marriage. Jocelyn runs away from home to be with him. Despite all of these relationships, Lou still ends up alone. In the chapter "You (Plural)," Lou is on his deathbed and no one is there for him. When Rhea and Jocelyn visit him, he is in the house alone. Jocelyn then realizes the reason for his loneliness is that he’s a horrible person who led her and his son Rolph down a terrible path. He had a long-term influence on Jocelyn, who had a good childhood but then turned to drugs for her entire young life, causing her to still live with her mother in her mid-forties.

Another aspect of modern day American life in is technology. Jennifer Egan shows technology coming into the story in a clever way, by writing parts of the book in different ways that clearly indicate the use of technology. For example, in chapter twelve, which Alison narrates, she uses a Powerpoint presentation to talk about her family. Because Alison is twelve years old, it makes sense that she would use technology to express herself, and this style makes her thoughts very clear and easy to understand. Another example of Egan integrating technology into the novel is the use of “text talk” in the later chapters. Although this would typically be seen as extremely poor writing, Egan’s innovation here is rather brilliant because it show the true way people communicate now, and the reference to technology’s influence is strong as well.

Throughout this novel, Jennifer Egan made huge effort to create a representation of American life, and she was very successful, as the book does just that. Between her brilliant storytelling, weaving together storylines to show the effect of the passage time, and the clever way she integrated technology into the story more and more as time passed, it’s evident why she won the Pulitzer Prize. Her innovation with different styles combined with the well thought-out chronology used made A Visit From the Goon Squad the obvious choice.

     

Language Analysis Essay

Language in A Visit from the Goon Squad

Though Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad has received praise on many grounds, one of its most compelling features is its undeniable humanness. The Chicago Tribune called it groundbreaking, featuring “characters about whom you come to care deeply as you watch them doing things they shouldn’t, acting gloriously, infuriatingly human.” Readers connect so easily to this book not simply because they care about the characters, but because they embody the characters. Through Jennifer Egan’s refreshingly contemporary writing style, she displays humankind’s complete lack of self awareness in a horrifying, yet eye opening fashion.

Jennifer Egan utilizes a third person omniscient point of view and a casual tone within the chapters to provide insight to the thoughts and feelings of her characters, and easily relate her readers to those characters. Each chapter focuses on one person, having their own personal flaws and trials, connecting them to the other characters through their lack of control over their own lives. Within each chapter Jennifer Egan mimics the way in which people think and speak by seamlessly switching between dialogue and personal thought. By being able to delve into each character’s most personal thoughts and feelings, readers learn that these people are self obsessed in a way that is both appalling and yet undeniably relatable. One of the most heartbreaking cases is displayed in chapter three when Rhea explains the dynamic of her band, but focuses primarily on her freckles, her unrequited love for Bennie, and the fact that she is not a “real punk.” Although having a total self obsession fed by her insecurities, she has a complete lack of self awareness and identity, proven when Lou, a man who she despises, seems to have a better understanding of her than she does. Through situations like these Jennifer Egan suggests that this absence of self understanding is a problem plaguing modern society.

In chapter four Mindy is able to predict the actions of the people on the safari with her, yet lacks the self awareness to stop herself from marrying Lou who inevitably leaves her with no money, struggling to support her family. Charlene knows her father well enough to predict that he will marry Mindy, but cannot stop herself from joining a cult in Mexico and eventually dying from salmonella poisoning. Rhea feels that she understands Bennie so well that she may have a deeper understanding of him than she does of herself. There seems to be a theme of characters having a deep understanding of other characters, yet lacking this understanding of themselves. Jennifer Egan incorporates modernism while illustrating this by providing readers with views into the future, using a wide timeline that the novel occurs in, and by providing anecdotes that give a peek into the future lives of characters. This both demonstrates a lack of personal understanding, and the impossibility of predicting one’s future.

Jennifer Egan employes a modern writing style along with time shifts, a third person omniscient point of view, and smooth transitions between dialogue and thought. This simultaneously connects readers to her characters, while proving that society has an alarming lack of self awareness, leading to life outcomes that are impossible to predict. A Visit From the Goon Squad leaves readers feeling simultaneously horrified and reassured, seeing the frustrating qualities of Jennifer Egan’s characters in themselves, but knowing that this trait is present in everyone.

The Role of Technology Essay

Technology Clock

In Jennifer Egan’s novel, A Visit From The Goon Squad, technology constantly shows growth of characters and reflects the time period in which the chapter is set in. The story is not told in chronological order and can be difficult to follow as the characters progress into the oddly formatted telling of their life. Technology, as a whole, heavily reflects human’s progression of society and in this book, helps make the sporadic chain events connect in an orderly fashion. Eagan specifically reflects her point of view on technology changing music and society through character’s opinions and instances where they long for a connection that has been shattered by technology’s evolution.

One of the most prominent characters, that portrays Egan’s point, is Bennie Salazar. In the novel, Bennie is a successful music producer but is shown struggling to find a connection to most modern music he comes across. He expresses his thoughts on how technology has helped spread the music to all audiences and made it very accessible, but with that comes the erasing of the original sound of most music and other art forms he mentions. He refers to the constant overproduced, “clean” sound as an “aesthetic holocaust”. This is said as he reminisces the olden days by listening to punk bands, which mostly were recorded poorly, but reflect the lack of technology in music. Bennie misses the feeling of knowing that the instruments were truly being played, whereas today, he expresses that technology can fake the instrumentation and is therefore overproduced by the process of digitization. Egan reflects her point of view on how technology has altered music, mostly for worse, through Bennie’s frustration and this helps display how Bennie progresses through a society and connects with other characters. He constantly is on the search for the untouched sound and this helps create his web that ties him to other people in the novel, ironically acting as a social network.

As the novel progresses, the last chapter helps give insight to where technology is headed, how it’s used, and even the audience it's being marketed towards. As Bennie interacts with Alex, conversing about an artist that Bennie has signed, Scotty Hausmann, they are connected through the discussion of untouched music. This helps Egan explore her thoughts of technology and also supports this character spider web, connecting many different folks. Not only that, but in the same chapter, the youthful Lulu is scolded for conversing on a phone, a modern piece of technology. She works for Bennie and Alex so this is why Rebecca, Alex’s wife feels free to scold her. This reflects the gap in generational opinion of technology by having the older person feel angry towards the younger one for “keeping up with the times” by using technology. Egan accurately and subtly predicts how technology companies will market towards the youth by showing Lulu’s effortless use of the modern phone.

Technology helps Egan display time progression and connections from character to character as the jumbled, unchronological, novel progresses. The aesthetic used by Egan to help the reader follow the story is almost creating a timeline through the change of each of the character’s surrounding in every chapter. Technology is one of the most common symbols that helps not only tie the book together, but also reflects a ghastly accurate opinion of the times that Egan expresses.

Critical Lens Essay

Modern History’s Influence on A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad was published in 2010, following a decade of

turmoil and unrest between America and foreign powers in the Middle East. In the ever-

shifting storyline of A Visit from the Goon Squad the attack of 9/11 is shown in multiple

chapters to be a focal point of change in both the characters’ lives and the future of

America. Sasha’s emotional connection to the site of the Twin Towers is a reflection of

Jennifer Egan’s connection the event, which dramatically altered security and politics on

a global level. In the aftermath of 9/11, George W. Bush passed the USA Patriot Act

and other laws to allow greater involvement of the federal government in domestic

surveillance and an increase in military spending. Citizens who feared future attacks

relied more heavily on the government than before, increasing the government’s ability

to implement aggressive reforms without backlash. The war on terror was in full effect

during Egan’s writing of A Visit from the Goon Squad and although no one yet knows

the lasting impacts of America’s intervention domestically and in foreign affairs, she

exposes a very possible future of America under the policies put in place after 9/11.

Through exaggeration of current issues in American society, in relation to terrorism and

global warming, Egan seeks to use fictional stories to reflect on real global issues

America is facing.

The altered future world that Egan presents is characterized by a much stronger

federal government with tight control over public safety. In Chapter 13, which describes

this future, citizens are not allowed to do seemingly harmless activities such as use

strollers because they impede public safety in the event of an evacuation. Alex also

describes the omnipresent existence of helicopters that are “flogging the air with a

sound Alex hadn’t been able to bear in the early years-too loud, too loud-but over time

he’d gotten used to it: the price of safety" (pg.330). The reasons for such tightened domestic

security are never fully explained, which is a tactic used by Egan to elevate the sense of

an ominous and paranoid destiny. The changes in society that are described in chapter

13 are an exaggerated version of real changes being made to the America economy

and foreign affairs influenced by the USA Patriot Act. For instance, a technological

economy and society arises which trains the youngest generation from birth how to use

handsets and communicate virtually. Those who thrive in the future world are young,

brilliant, and technologically capable individuals such as Lulu who can run the world

through their deep understanding of the workings of both human tendencies and

technology.

The symbol of “From A to B” in A Visit from the Goon Squad, used typically when

a character is attempting to discover which moments in their lives were pivotal to their

current position in life, can also be used to understand the importance of 9/11 in history.

The terrorist attack was a catalyst for not only domestic change, but a societal shift

globally, and is therefore a clear transition to a new modern world. In the novel only 7

out of 13 chapters are set in the time after 2001, which brings up the question, what is

the significance of focusing so heavily on events before 9/11? The earlier chapters are

included purely to juxtapose our future civilization with the oblivious world which existed

before. Chapters set before the shift feature a population less paranoid about its safety

and not worried about how technology could possibly alter how humans live and

communicate. Egan’s purpose is subtly explored in the other chapters after 9/11, but it

isn’t until the last chapter, chapter 13, that her objective is fully developed and

understood, making it the most important in the novel.

America faces its biggest challenges in foreign affairs with terrorist organizations,

and the catalyst for this war on terror was the infamous attack of 9/11. This atrocity

conducted by Al Qaeda left the world in shock and has had a profound impact on

foreign affairs up until the present day. Although only half of the book is set in this time

period after 9/11, it is in these chapters where she solidifies her purpose in writing the

novel. Jennifer Egan used events from the war on terror and other issues in current

affairs to create a future for society which serves to comment on present American

culture and new technology.