A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Knopf, June 9, 2010) Shop Indie Bookstores Reading this book was a little like starting a conversation out of general politeness, and discovering that you're talking to someone you passionately want for a best friend. Jennifer Egan -- full disclosure -- is a friend and customer of Greenlight Bookstore. I'd hosted her before for events at other stores, and chatted with her and her kids at Greenlight, but to my own detriment I had never actually read any of her fiction. (Even though, as often seems to happen, it seems in retrospect like obviously the sort of thing I would like: the smart but not overtly political feminism of Look At Me , the Gothic nested stories of The Keep , etc. -- good storytelling in the service of big ideas, or vice versa, without sacrificing the one for the other.) It seemed like now would be the time to pick her up, though, since we're hosting her launch party for the book on Wednesday . So I opened th...