My selection for the next meeting is A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. It grabbed me in the first couple of pages and I think our group will feel the same.
The book won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Literature (so if you disagree with me... you're wrong!)
It's available in paperback, Kindle, at HPB, etc. Enjoy!
-Dick Dougherty
This review is from Bookmarks Magazine
Critics loved Egan's newest novel, describing it as "audacious" and "extraordinary" (Philadelphia Inquirer). In the hands of a less-gifted writer, Egans's time-hopping narrative, unorthodox format, and motley cast of characters might have failed spectacularly. But it works here, primarily because each person shines within his or her individual chapter that offers a distinct voice and a fascinating backstory. A few reviewers mentioned the uneven nature of the chapters and the different stylistic experiments within them. Yet, hailed as "a frequently dazzling piece of layer-cake metafiction" (Entertainment Weekly), A Visit from the Goon Squad is a gutsy novel that succeeds on all levels.
