a visit from the goon squad summary

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer egan, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

A Visit from the Goon Squad is unconventional in the way its narrative unfolds. Each chapter stands as a self-contained story, but as a whole, the individual episodes create connections that form a cohesive narrative. The stories, as they appear in the novel, do not follow a traditional chronology. Instead, they leap through time, showing slices of different time periods occurring between the late 1970s and the 2020s. The novel is also split into two parts—A and B—which echoes the two sides of an album. Several characters appear in more than one story, and through the ways in which they appear at different points in time, their narratives become clear.

In the novel’s first story, “Found Objects,” Sasha meets with her therapist, Coz , with whom she is working to overcome an addiction to stealing. She recounts a date she went on with a man named Alex , during which she steals a wallet in the restaurant’s bathroom. After a brief confrontation with the woman Sasha stole from, Sasha returns the wallet and admits she has a problem. Afterward, Sasha and Alex return to her apartment and have sex. Alex then takes a bath and Sasha goes through Alex’s wallet. She finds a piece of paper that says, “I believe in you.” She steals the paper and puts the wallet back before he returns.

The next story is called “The Gold Cure.” This introduces Bennie Salazar , a divorced record executive in his mid-forties, who struggles with anxiety and sexual impotency. He sprinkles gold flakes into his coffee to combat his sexual dysfunction. Benny and his son Christopher meet Sasha, who is now Bennie’s secretary, at the home of one of the bands signed to his record label. The band is not selling albums, but as they play some new music for Bennie, he begins to feel sexually aroused by the music. His arousal, however, suddenly escapes him as a flood of shameful memories strikes him. He runs out of the house. Afterward, Bennie drops Christopher off at his mother’s house, and drives Sasha home. As Bennie drops Sasha off at her building, he tries to tell her about his attraction to her. She stops him, saying, “We need each other.” She then goes home.

In the next story, “Ask Me If I Care,” the narrative leaps back to the year 1979. Rhea , an insecure punk rocker with green hair, tells this story. Rhea feels undesirable and not “punk” enough because of her freckles. Rhea’s friend Jocelyn begins sleeping with Lou , a powerful record executive and much older man. She convinces Lou to come see Bennie Salazar and Scotty Hausman ’s band, The Flaming Dildos. At the concert, Jocelyn gives Lou oral sex as the band plays. Lou has his arm around Rhea, and Rhea feels like she is a part of the sexual act in a way that disturbs her. After the concert, the group goes to Lou’s house. Rhea and Lou share a conversation on the balcony in which Rhea scolds him for sleeping with Jocelyn, who is under age. Lou gets a kick out of her belligerence, and tells her never to change. Two weeks later, Jocelyn runs away with Lou. Lou promises to bring Jocelyn home when he returns to San Francisco.

In the next story, “Safari,” Lou, two of his children, and his new girlfriend, Mindy , go on an African safari. They are joined by a cast of other characters, including Chronos , the guitarist of a popular band, and Albert , the tour guide. During the story, Mindy feels tension with Lou’s children, Charlie and Rolph , who miss their mother. Out on the safari, a lion attacks Chronos, but Albert saves him by shooting and killing the lion. Later, Mindy sleeps with Albert. When Lou realizes that something is going on between Mindy and Albert, he tells Rolph that all women are “cunts.” Rolph condemns his father’s reaction, but Lou, a fiercely competitive man, feels a newfound desire to conquer Mindy. Later that night, Rolph and Charlie dance together in the hotel restaurant—a moment of connection they have not experienced yet on the trip. In this moment, the narrative leaps forward, revealing the future. Mindy will marry Lou, and they will have two children together. After they divorce, she will work as a travel agent as she raises their children, and later will go on to continue her Ph.D. Charlie will go on to join a cult in Mexico. Rolph will become estranged from his father and commit suicide at the age of twenty-eight.

The narrative jumps forward a quarter century for the next story, “You (Plural).” Jocelyn narrates, and she and Rhea return to Lou’s house after his health has failed. In the years since the story “Ask Me if I Care” Jocelyn has been in and out of rehab for drug addiction. Rhea has gotten married and had children. They find Lou bedridden and alone. After they catch up for a while, Jocelyn and Rhea push Lou’s bed outside and stand by the poolside. Jocelyn thinks of Lou’s son, Rolph, who was her age, and remembers loving him. Jocelyn asks Lou about Rolph, forgetting that he committed suicide years earlier. Lou begins to weep. Rhea responds empathetically, thinking Jocelyn has said this to spite Lou. Jocelyn is struck with anger, and feels like pushing Lou’s bed into the water . Jocelyn tells Lou he deserves to die. Lou then asks Rhea and Jocelyn to stand on either side of him and hold his hands. They take his hands and stand together, staring into the pool, just like old times.

Scotty Hausman is the narrator of the next chapter, titled “X’s and O’s,” which happens nine years before “The Gold Cure.” Scotty is living a reclusive life in New York City, working as a janitor and spending his free time fishing in the East River. He decides to visit his old friend, Bennie. When he goes, he brings with him a dead bass he caught while fishing. Scotty is stunned by the glamour of Bennie’s office, and notes how his life has gone in a different direction than Bennie’s. As Scotty talks to Bennie, Scotty realizes that they are no longer friends. Bennie asks Scotty about his ex-wife, Alice, who appears in the story “Ask Me if I Care.” Bennie had a crush on Alice, but Alice chose Scotty. Scotty realizes this is a point of insecurity for Bennie. As Scotty leaves, Bennie gives him a business card, and tells him to get in touch if he ever has any new music to show him. Scotty leaves the dead fish. The next day, Scotty gives the card to a young couple, one of whom is a musician.

In the first story of part B, titled “A to B,” the focus is on Bennie’s wife Stephanie before they get divorced. The family moves to a wealthy community outside of New York City, called Crandale. They attempt to fit in, but Bennie is racially profiled because he is Hispanic, and Stephanie feels like an outsider because of her tattoos. Stephanie begins playing tennis with a woman named Kathy . One day, Stephanie goes to the city to meet with the guitarist Bosco , for whom she does PR work. Her brother, Jules , who has just been released from prison, volunteers to go with her. Jules mentions that Stephanie and Bennie seem jumpy, which makes Stephanie worry that Bennie is cheating on her again. When they arrive at Bosco’s apartment, Bosco tells Stephanie that he wants to go on a suicide tour. The former guitarist for the Conduits, Bosco has become fat, alcoholic, and is dying of cancer. He wants to go out with a bang and die on stage. Stephanie thinks the idea is ludicrous, but Jules wants to write a book about the suicide tour. Later that night, Bennie comes home and while he showers, Stephanie finds a gold colored bobby pin on the floor. She realizes it belongs to Kathy, whom Bennie is having an affair with. Stephanie wanders downstairs, and goes out to the garden. She is surprised when Noreen , her reclusive neighbor, whispers to her from behind the fence. They share a brief interaction before Stephanie goes back inside.

The next story in the novel, “Selling the General,” features Dolly Peale . Dolly, formerly known as “La Doll,” was a famous PR expert, but she ruined her name after a light display at one of her parties malfunctioned and burned the famous attendees. She begins doing work trying to save the image a military dictator called The General . She hires Kitty Jackson , an actress with a flagging reputation, and they travel to meet the general so Kitty can appear in a photograph with the dictator. Dolly also brings her daughter, Lulu , in hopes of repairing their relationship. When they meet The General, Dolly takes a photograph of Kitty’s interaction with him, but things take a turn for the worse when Kitty begins asking the General about the genocide. The General’s guards carry Kitty away into captivity. Dolly and Lulu leave immediately. Months later, the General’s country has transitioned to democracy. Kitty is released and begins working on a new movie. Dolly and Lulu move out of the city, and Dolly opens a successful sandwich shop.

The following story, titled “Forty-Minute Lunch: Kitty Jackson Opens Up About Love, Fame, and Nixon!” appears in the novel as a magazine article written by Jules Jones, Stephanie’s brother. The article was written prior to his release from prison, and the style of the article, including rants and footnotes, shows Jules coming unhinged. As he talks with Kitty, he begins to conflate Kitty Jackson with his ex-girlfriend, who left him for a memoirist. Sensing his time with Kitty is almost up, Jules convinces her to go on a walk with him in Central Park. Once in the park, Jules pushes her down and tries to rape her. Kitty sprays him with pepper spray and stabs him in the leg with a Swiss Army knife. Later, Jules is convicted of attempted rape, and sent to prison. Kitty sends him a letter apologizing for whatever role she had in his mental breakdown. Her letter creates a media sensation, and Kitty is pegged as the Marilyn Monroe of her generation.

The next story, “Out of Body,” is told through the voice of Rob , and includes Sasha. This story is set before Sasha begins working for Bennie Salazar, while she is still in college at NYU. Rob has recently attempted suicide and his friends, including Sasha, are worried about him. Rob and Sasha met after she asked him to pose as her fake boyfriend. Sasha believes that her father has detectives watching her, and she wants to appear as if she is dating a nice boy. Rob resents the fact that Sasha seems interested in their mutual friend Drew . Sasha, Drew, and Rob go to a Conduits concert. As the band plays, Rob begins to fantasize about Drew, imagining that seeing Drew naked would give him a sense of relief. After the concert, Sasha goes to a party with Bennie Salazar, whom she has just met. Rob and Drew end up going to the East River together. Rob tells Drew that Sasha was a hooker in Naples. He immediately regrets betraying her. Drew decides to swim in the river. Rob follows Drew into the icy water, but gets caught in a current and drowns.

Next comes the story titled “Good-bye, My Love,” told from the perspective of Sasha’s uncle Ted Hollander . Sasha is in Naples, and her stepfather has flown Ted to Naples to look for her, but Ted, who is an art scholar, takes the opportunity to escape his wife and kids and view famous pieces of art. As he walks the city and views different pieces of art, he remembers Sasha as a child, describing her as lovely and bewitching. When he accidently runs into Sasha on the street, he doesn’t know what to say. They schedule dinner, and meet later that evening. As they eat, Sasha asks Ted about his family and his work. Ted is unhappy, and struggles to connect to his wife and family. Ted lies, telling Sasha he is not there for her. Later they go to a club where Sasha convinces Ted to dance with her. Sasha disappears on the dance floor, and Ted realizes she has stolen his wallet. The next day, Ted finds where Sasha lives, and waits outside her door until she gives him his wallet and lets him in. They watch the sun set, and Ted realizes how alone she is in this foreign country. The narrative then flashes forward, revealing that Sasha will have a family in the future. Ted will visit her, and they will reminisce about their time in Naples.

The story “Great Rock and Roll Pauses” is told in the form of a PowerPoint presentation created by Sasha’s daughter, Alison . It is some time in the 2020s, and Sasha has married Drew and started a family. Alison uses the slides to tell the story of the family’s current situation. Alison’s autistic brother Lincoln is interested in pauses in great rock and roll songs. He struggles to connect with his father, who is a doctor and rarely home. One night, Drew returns home from work in a bad mood. Drew becomes angry with Lincoln, and yells at him. Sasha comes to Lincoln’s defense, but Lincoln runs to his room. Alison and her father go for a walk in the desert. Drew admits that he has trouble connecting with his son. Alison suggests Drew help him make graphs of the rock and roll pauses as a way to find connection. As they return to the house, Alison experiences tremendous anxiety, feeling as if she has traveled into the future, and their home may be gone. She is relieved to find it still there, and goes to bed. The chapter ends with slides of graphs created by Lincoln and Drew.

The final chapter, “Pure Language,” brings the novel full circle by returning to Alex, who appeared as Sasha’s date in the novel’s first story. The year is sometime in the 2020s, and Alex has taken a job with Bennie as a social networking marketer, promoting a performance by Scotty Hausman, who has had a comeback as a musician who plays music for toddlers. Alex is reluctant to tell his wife, Rebecca , about his new job due to the stigma around the kind of marketing he’s doing. Alex works with Lulu, Dolly’s daughter who appeared in “Selling the General.” On the day of the concert, the venue is packed, and Alex feels proud. Before the concert Scotty has a panic attack, and refuses to play. Eventually, Lulu convinces Scotty to get on stage. On stage, Scotty plays his songs for children, but then switches to more personal material. Everyone is wowed, and the concert later becomes historic. As Alex and Bennie walk home after the show, they pass the building where Sasha used to live. They ring the doorbell, but nobody answers. Just as they leave, a woman approaches. For a moment they hope it is Sasha, but it is another woman.

• A Visit from the Goon Squad Summary

by Jennifer Egan

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

Written by Timothy Sexton

It is 2008 and Alex and Sasha are out on what will prove to be their single date. When Sasha excuses herself to use the restroom her compulsion to take things that do not belong to her overwhelms and she steals the wallet. After watching the woman come out and frantically search for the missing item, Sasha heads back to the bathroom and is discovered red-handed. She begs the woman not to say anything and she agrees. Alex and Sasha head back to her apartment which is overrun with stolen items and have. Sex.

The year is 2006 and middle-aged record executive Bennie Salazar is trying yet again to make a connection with son Chris. On this occasion, the attempt involves visiting a band called the Stop/Go sisters.

The year is 1979 and carefree teenager Bennie Salazar loves hanging out with Rhea, Jocelyn, Scottie and Alice doing the whole sex, drugs and punk rock and roll thing. Scottie has it bad for Jocelyn, but Jocelyn enters into a relationship with an man named Lou Kline that she met while hitchhiking.

The year is 1973 and Lou Kline is a middle-aged music producer in Africa on safari with his kids and girlfriend. An encounter between Charlie, the 14 year old daughter, and a young warrior briefly gives a peek into the future of 2008. Later the safari members will witness the killing of a lion. Later, another glimpse into the future reveals a sad narrative for Charlie: brief membership in a weird Mexican cult, a cocaine addiction resulting the need for facial reconstruction surgery and a history of being dominated by men.

Twenty years after first meeting him, Jocelyn visits a dying Lou at his home, tagging Rhea along. By now, Lou’s kids number six and his marriages stopped after number three. When it slips Jocelyn’s mind that his first son Rolph is dead and she inquires about him, Lou begins to cry and Jocelyne slips into into a silent simmering anger that culminates with her assertion that she should kill him right now. He responds that it is too late.

The year is 199 and Bennie is a successful enough music producer to be featured in a piece published in Spin magazine. Scottie has not enjoyed nearly the same trajectory and reads the article in a bitter mood. He goes to visit Bennie in his office, but the meeting is awkward. As he leaves, he stops and hands Bennie’s card to a couple he recognizes who are pursuing a career in music.

Over the course of 2002-2004 Bennie and his wife Stephanie take up residence in a rather conservative suburb where their rock and roll attitudes are not exactly a perfect fit. To try to better assimilate, they apply for membership and accepted into a country club. Thing go much better for Stephanie who make a friend of Kathy, but Kathy’s husband Clay insults Bennie one night a party. Bennie washes his hands of the whole country club lifestyle, but Stephanie keeps it up behind his back. Time drags on and when a washed-up rocker named Bosco arrives to inform them of his plans for a comeback tour, the lies threaten to catch up with Stephanie, but as he madly rushes to keep her life in balance, she discovers that Bennie has been lying too: he’s been having an affair with Kathy.

The year is 2008 and Dolly live in an apartment with her daughter trying to desperately to regain her footing as a hotshot NYC PR maven. At present, however, her entire client list consists of just one dictator given to indulging his genocidal tendencies. Dolly arranges for a movie star nearly as washed up as she to be photographed with the General—as he is known—but the mouthy movie star goes too far, causing the General to kidnap her and send Dolly and her daughter back home. When Dolly publishes the picture of the General and the movie star, both experience a spike in popularity.

Written in the format of a celebrity puff piece in 1999, the former kidnap victim, Kitty Jackson tells all to reporter Jules Jones. Jules is brother to Stephanie and brother-in-law to Bennie.

Chapter 10:

Sasha has a new boyfriend in 1993: Drew. Growing increasingly jealous of Drew is Rob, the boy she entered into a phony romance with to fool the detective hired by her father to follow her and find out what he was doing. Rob relates this to Drew which is news to him and also admits he regrets not sleeping with Sasha when he had the chance. One night Rob and Drew go to a club, get high and then walk down by the river where Rob tell him that Sasha’ past is not nearly as clean-cut as he thinks. Drew accuses Rob of lying and dives into the frigid water of the East River. Rob goes after, but never comes back up.

Chapter 11:

The year is 1991 and it’s been two years since Sasha ran away from home. Her uncle Ted has traveled to Naples to track down her down. When he finds her, she’s got a limp, slash marks across her wrist and the ability to pick his wallet from his pocket without him even realizing it.

Chapter 12:

In the year 2025, Sasha and Drew’s 12-year-old daughter Allison has created a PowerPoint presentation that reveal that Drew is a doctor, that she has an autistic brother a year older and that the house is filled with tension whenever both mother and father are home which is not often because Drew prefer to stay at work for as long as possible.

Chapter 13:

About two years before Allison will create her PowerPoint, 60-ish Bennie Salazar is sitting in the living with a man named Alex who is struggling to remember the name of a girl from whom he first heard of Bennie; all he can recall is that on their one and only date there was some confusion about a stolen wallet or something. Later they go to a concert and after finally getting Scottie to take the stage, Alex watches the performance almost lost in a trance. When Alex finally recalls that the girl’s name was Sasha and he and Bennie walk to the apartment where they wound up after that date. Sasha doesn’t live there anymore.

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.

A Visit from the Goon Squad Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for A Visit from the Goon Squad is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Study Guide for A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad study guide contains a biography of Jennifer Egan, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About A Visit from the Goon Squad
• Character List

Essays for A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.

• A Visit into the Minds of the Goon Squad
• “Pure Language” and the Dirtying of Technology in Egan's Novel
• Fish as Symbols for the Acceptance of Reality in 'A Visit from the Goon Squad'
• To Save Time in a Bottle: Confronting the Past and Distorting Reality with Scottie, Robert, and Bennie
• Egan, Sasha, and Questionable Adulthood: The Downfall of American Democracy as Told by Punk Rock

A Visit from the Goon Squad Summary, Characters and Themes

“A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan is a masterpiece of interlocking stories, each chapter a puzzle piece in a larger narrative spanning from the late 1970s into the 2020s. 

This novel breaks away from traditional storytelling, unfolding in a non-linear fashion that mirrors the unpredictability of life itself. Through a collection of vivid episodes, Egan explores themes of time, change, and redemption, drawing readers into a web of characters whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways.

The journey begins with “Found Objects,” where we meet Sasha, grappling with a compulsion to steal, during a therapy session. Her story intertwines with that of Alex, a date who becomes entangled in her chaotic world in a moment of vulnerability and connection. 

This initial tale sets the stage for a novel where personal struggles are laid bare, revealing the complexities of human nature.

As the narrative unfolds, we encounter Bennie Salazar, a record executive navigating the challenges of midlife, including a failing marriage and professional stagnation. His story, “The Gold Cure,” reveals the intricate connections between characters, as Sasha reappears, now working as Bennie’s secretary. 

Their shared moments hint at deeper, unseen ties that bind the characters across time and space.

The novel then takes us back to 1979 in “Ask Me If I Care,” where the punk scene provides a backdrop for the turbulent relationship between teenagers Rhea, Jocelyn, and an older record executive, Lou. 

This story offers a raw look at youth, love, and the consequences of our choices, connecting past and present through music and memory.

“Safari” brings us closer to Lou, exploring his complex relationships with his children and a younger girlfriend during a tense African safari. 

This story not only delves into the dynamics of a fractured family but also foreshadows the future, revealing the long-term effects of Lou’s actions on his children.

The narrative continues to weave through time, exploring the aftermath of relationships and choices in stories like “You (Plural)” and “X’s and O’s,” where characters face the consequences of their past actions, sometimes decades later. 

These chapters reveal the profound impact of time on individuals and their relationships, showcasing Egan’s skill in capturing the essence of human experience.

Part B of the novel introduces us to new perspectives, such as Stephanie in “A to B,” grappling with her identity and marriage in a new, affluent community. 

Her story, like many others, reflects the universal quest for belonging and the elusive nature of happiness.

“Dolly Peale’s” tale in “Selling the General” and the subsequent stories, including “Forty-Minute Lunch: Kitty Jackson Opens Up About Love, Fame, and Nixon!” and “Out of Body,” further expand the novel’s exploration of identity, fame, and the search for redemption in a complex world.

The narrative’s innovative structure reaches a poignant crescendo in “Great Rock and Roll Pauses,” a chapter presented through a PowerPoint presentation. This unique format captures the inner workings of a family, highlighting the novel’s themes of communication and connection in the digital age.

“A Visit from the Goon Squad” concludes with “Pure Language,” where the story circles back to Alex and the transformative power of music, tying together the threads of the novel in a reflection on art , identity, and the cyclical nature of life.

Sasha’s journey through “A Visit from the Goon Squad” serves as a central thread that ties various narratives together. Battling a compulsion to steal, her vulnerabilities and struggles are laid bare from the outset. Her complex relationships, notably with Alex and her boss Bennie Salazar, highlight her quest for redemption and the impact of her choices on her life and those around her.

Bennie Salazar

As a divorced record executive facing midlife crises, Bennie’s narrative is one of professional stagnation and personal despair. His attempts to reignite his passion for music and resolve his sexual dysfunction with gold flakes are poignant symbols of his search for meaning . Bennie’s connections to Sasha, his family, and his past, paint a picture of a man grappling with the consequences of his actions and the desire for connection.

First introduced as Sasha’s date, Alex reappears throughout the novel, ultimately showcasing the evolution of his character over time. His involvement in the music industry and his relationship with Sasha bookend the novel, providing a perspective on the changing nature of music, marketing , and interpersonal relationships in the digital age.

Lou’s character offers a glimpse into the darker side of the music industry and personal failings. His relationships with younger women, including Jocelyn, and his own children, unveil a man struggling with power, desire, and a deep-seated fear of obsolescence. Lou’s actions and their repercussions on his family, especially his son Rolph, underscore the novel’s themes of time and consequence.

Jocelyn’s story is one of lost youth and the long road to recovery. Her involvement with Lou at a young age sets her on a path of addiction and rehab. Her return to Lou’s life in his final days is a powerful exploration of forgiveness, the lasting effects of our earliest choices, and the possibility of healing from deep wounds.

As an insecure punk rocker, Rhea’s perspective provides insight into the complexities of adolescence, identity, and the search for belonging. Her friendship with Jocelyn and their shared experiences with Lou and the punk scene of the 1970s reveal the challenges of growing up and the enduring nature of friendship.

Rob’s story, “Out of Body,” delves into themes of love, betrayal, and the tragic consequences of unspoken desires. His friendship with Sasha and his own internal struggles highlight the novel’s exploration of identity, the pain of unrequited love, and the profound impact of our actions on the lives of others.

Ted Hollander

Ted, Sasha’s uncle, provides a perspective on family, art, and the pursuit of personal fulfillment. His mission to find Sasha in Naples offers a break from his unsatisfying life and reflects on the novel’s themes of escape, the significance of art in understanding ourselves and others, and the complex bonds of family.

Dolly Peale

Formerly a high-flying PR expert, Dolly’s fall from grace and her attempts to rehabilitate her career and relationship with her daughter, Lulu, through a risky venture with a dictator, encapsulate themes of redemption, the corrosive nature of fame, and the lengths to which individuals will go to reclaim their lives.

Kitty Jackson

Kitty’s rise, fall, and eventual comeback in the entertainment industry offer a critique of celebrity culture and the media. Her involvement with Dolly Peale and the subsequent scandal highlight the novel’s examination of personal integrity, the quest for redemption, and the public’s fickle nature.

1. The Passage of Time and Its Impact on Identity

Central to Egan’s narrative is the exploration of time’s relentless march and its transformative effects on the characters. 

The novel’s non-linear structure allows readers to witness the evolution of characters across decades, from the vibrancy of youth to the reflections of middle age and beyond. 

Through this temporal lens, Egan delves into how aspirations, relationships, and self-perceptions shift as the years pass. 

Characters grapple with the realization that time alters their dreams , ambitions, and connections with others, often in unexpected ways. 

This theme is poignantly illustrated in the contrasting lives of characters such as Sasha, who moves from a troubled youth to a more settled adulthood, and Bennie Salazar, whose journey from an aspiring musician to a jaded record executive reflects the compromises and losses endured over time.

2. The Search for Redemption and Connection

Throughout the novel, characters are driven by a deep-seated desire for redemption and a sense of belonging. 

Sasha’s struggle with kleptomania, Rob’s tragic quest for acceptance, and Dolly’s attempt to rebuild her life and reputation all highlight the characters’ efforts to find meaning and forgiveness in a world that often seems indifferent to their struggles. 

Egan masterfully shows how these quests for redemption are intertwined with the characters’ need for connection—whether it be through love, friendship, or familial bonds. 

The novel suggests that redemption is not just a personal journey but one that is inextricably linked to the relationships that shape and define us. 

The moments of genuine connection between characters, such as the poignant scene where Jocelyn and Rhea confront their past with Lou, underscore the theme that redemption often comes through the acceptance and understanding of others.

3. The Influence of Music and Art on Human Experience

Music and art permeate the novel, serving as a backdrop against which the characters’ stories unfold. 

Egan uses music not only as a motif that connects various episodes but also as a metaphor for the complexities of human emotion and the passage of time. The evolution of music styles and the industry itself mirror the transformations in the characters’ lives. 

Furthermore, the novel explores how art and music serve as vehicles for expressing the inexpressible, for connecting with others across the barriers of time and space, and for capturing the ephemeral moments of beauty and sadness that define human existence. 

The PowerPoint presentation on great rock and roll pauses by Sasha’s daughter, Alison, symbolizes the novel’s innovative approach to storytelling, highlighting how art forms evolve but continue to reflect the core aspects of our humanity.

Final Thoughts

Egan’s novel is a daring exploration of time, music, and the interconnectedness of human lives. 

Through its unconventional structure, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” challenges readers to consider the ways in which our stories are intertwined, reminding us that in the end, we are all part of a larger narrative, composed of moments of beauty, despair, and the relentless passage of time.

Sharing is Caring!

A team of Editors at Books That Slay.

Passionate | Curious | Permanent Bibliophiles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Getting Started
• Start a Book Club
• Book Club Ideas/Help▼
• Our Featured Clubs ▼
• Popular Books
• Book Reviews
• Reading Guides
• Blog Home ▼
• Find a Recipe
• About LitCourse
• Course Catalog

Visit from the Goon Squad (Egan)

A Visit from the Goon Squad   Jennifer Egan, 2010 Knopf Doubleday 288 pp. ISBN-13: 9780307592835 Summary Winner, 2011 Pulitizer Prize Winner, 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award Moving from San Francisco in the 1970s to a vividly imagined New York City sometime after 2020, Jennifer Egan portrays the interlacing lives of men and women whose desires and ambitions converge and collide as the passage of time, cultural change, and private experience define and redefine their identities.

Bennie Salazar, a punk rocker in his teenage years, is facing middle age as a divorced and disheartened record producer. His cool, competent assistant, Sasha, keeps everything under control—except for her unconquerable compulsion to steal. Their diverse and diverting memories of the past and musings about the present set the stage for a cycle of tales about their friends, family, business associates, and lovers.

A high school friend re-creates the wild, sexually charged music scene of Bennie’s adolescence and introduces the wealthy, amoral entertainment executive Lou Kline, who becomes Bennie’s mentor and eventually faces the consequences of his casual indifference to the needs of his mistresses, wives, and children. Scotty, a guitarist in Bennie’s long-defunct band, emerges from life lived on the fringes of society to confront Bennie in his luxurious Park Avenue office, while Bennie’s once-punk wife, Stephanie, works her way up in the plush Republican suburb where they live.

Other vignettes explore the experiences and people that played a role in Sasha’s life. An uncle searching for Sasha when she runs away at seventeen becomes aware of  his own disillusionments and disappointments as he tries to comfort her. Her college boyfriend describes a night of drug-fueled revelry that comes to a shocking end.  And her twelve-year-old daughter contributes a clever PowerPoint presentation of the family dynamics—including hilariously pointed summaries of her mother’s “Annoying Habit #48” and “Why Dad Isn’t Here.”

From a trenchant look at the vagaries of the music business and the ebb and flow of celebrity to incisive dissections of marriage and family to a provocative vision of where America is headed, A Visit from the Goon Squad is unnerving, exhilarating, and irresistible. ( From the publisher .)

Author Bio • Birth—September 7, 1962 • Where—Chicago, Illinois, USA • Raised—San Francisco, California • Education—University of Pennsylvania; Cambridge    University (UK) • Awards—Pulitizer Prize; National Book Critics Circle Award • Currently—lives in Brooklyn, New York, New York Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short story writer who lives in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York City. She is perhaps best known for her 2010 novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, which won both the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Background/early career Egan was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in San Francisco, California. She majored in English literature at the University of Pennsylvania and, as an undergrad, dated Steve Jobs, who installed a Macintosh computer in her bedroom. After graduating from Penn, Egan spent two years at St John's College at Cambridge University, supported by a Thouron Award. In addition to her several novels ( see below ), Egan has published short fiction in The New Yorker, Harper's, Zoetrope: All-Story , and Ploughshares , among other periodicals. Her journalism appears frequently in The New York Times Magazine . She also published a short-story collection in 1993. A Visit from the Goon Squad Egan has been hesitant to classify her most noted work, A Visit from the Goon Squad, as either a novel or a short story collection, saying,

I wanted to avoid centrality. I wanted polyphony. I wanted a lateral feeling, not a forward feeling. My ground rules were: every piece has to be very different, from a different point of view. I actually tried to break that rule later; if you make a rule then you also should break it !

The book features genre-bending content such as a chapter entirely formatted as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. Of her inspiration and approach to the work, she said,

I don’t experience time as linear. I experience it in layers that seem to coexist.… One thing that facilitates that kind of time travel is music, which is why I think music ended up being such an important part of the book. Also, I was reading Proust. He tries, very successfully in some ways, to capture the sense of time passing, the quality of consciousness, and the ways to get around linearity, which is the weird scourge of writing prose .

Bibliography (partial) Novels 1995 - The Invisible Circus 2001 - Look at Me 2006 - The Keep 2010 - A Visit from the Goon Squad 2017 - Manhattan Beach Short fiction 1993 - Emerald City (short story collection; released in US in 1996) 2012 - "Black Box" (short story, released on The New Yorker 's Twitter account) ( Author bio adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 10/3/2017 .)

Book Reviews   Whether this tough, uncategorizable work of fiction is a novel, a collection of carefully arranged interlocking stories or simply a display of Ms. Egan's extreme virtuosity, the same characters pop up in different parts of it.... Taking some of her inspiration from Proust's In Search of Lost Time as well as some from "The Sopranos," [Egan] creates a set of characters with assorted links to the music business and lets time have its way with them. Virtually no one in this elaborately convoluted book winds up the better for wear. But Ms. Egan can be such a piercingly astute storyteller that the exhilaration of reading her outweighs the bleak destinies she describes. Janet Maslin - New York Times

Although shredded with loss , A Visit From the Goon Squad is often darkly, rippingly funny. Egan possesses a satirist's eye and a romance novelist's heart. Certainly the targets are plentiful in rock 'n' roll and public relations, the twinned cultural industries around which the book coalesces during the period from the early '80s to an imagined 2019 or so. No one is beyond the pale of her affection; no one is spared lampooning. Often she embraces and spears her subjects at the same time. Will Blythe - New York Times Book Review

If Jennifer Egan is our reward for living through the self-conscious gimmicks and ironic claptrap of postmodernism, then it was all worthwhile. Her new novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad , is a medley of voices…scrambled through time and across the globe with a 70-page PowerPoint presentation reproduced toward the end. I know that sounds like the headache-inducing, aren't-I-brilliant tedium that sends readers running to nonfiction, but Egan uses all these stylistic and formal shenanigans to produce a deeply humane story about growing up and growing old in a culture corroded by technology and marketing. And what's best, every movement of this symphony of boomer life plays out through the modern music scene, a white-knuckle trajectory of cool, from punk to junk to whatever might lie beyond. My only complaint is that A Visit From the Goon Squad doesn't come with a CD. Ron Charles - Washington Post

Readers will be pleased to discover that the star-crossed marriage of lucid prose and expertly deployed postmodern switcheroos that helped shoot Egan to the top of the genre-bending new school is alive in well in this graceful yet wild novel. We begin in contemporaryish New York with kleptomaniac Sasha and her boss, rising music producer Bennie Salazar, before flashing back, with Bennie, to the glory days of Bay Area punk rock, and eventually forward, with Sasha, to a settled life. By then, Egan has accrued tertiary characters, like Scotty Hausmann, Bennie's one-time bandmate who all but dropped out of society, and Alex, who goes on a date with Sasha and later witnesses the future of the music industry. Egan's overarching concerns are about how rebellion ages, influence corrupts, habits turn to addictions, and lifelong friendships fluctuate and turn. Or as one character asks, “How did I go from being a rock star to being a fat fuck no one cares about?” Egan answers the question elegantly, though not straight on, as this powerful novel chronicles how and why we change, even as the song stays the same. Publishers Weekly

National Book Award nominee Egan's (jenniferegan.com) fourth novel, following The Keep (2006), also available from AudioGO, received wide critical acclaim for its deft treatment of time, technology, and humanity. Here, the brilliantly structured postmodernist work receives the audio treatment. The novel skips around in time, covering several decades in the lives of a record executive/ex-rocker; his assistant, a compulsive thief; and others. The very human characters grow on one despite—or, perhaps, owing to—Egan's frequent skewering of them. Actress Roxana Ortega's narration is soothing; her steady voice gives listeners something to hold on to when chapters occasionally confuse. Ortega appears to be new to the audiobook narrating business—with more inflection she has the potential to become a popular reader. Recommended. — B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara P.L., Goleta Branch, CA Library Journal

"Time's a goon," as the action moves from the late 1970s to the early 2020s while the characters wonder what happened to their youthful selves and ideals. Egan ( The Keep , 2006, etc.) takes the music business as a case in point for society's monumental shift from the analog to the digital age. Record-company executive Bennie Salazar and his former bandmates from the Flaming Dildos form one locus of action; another is Bennie's former assistant Sasha, a compulsive thief club-hopping in Manhattan when we meet her as the novel opens, a mother of two living out West in the desert as it closes a decade and a half later with an update on the man she picked up and robbed in the first chapter. It can be alienating when a narrative bounces from character to character, emphasizing interconnections rather than developing a continuous story line, but Egan conveys personality so swiftly and with such empathy that we remain engaged. By the time the novel arrives at the year "202-" in a bold section narrated by Sasha's 12-year-old daughter Alison, readers are ready to see the poetry and pathos in the small nuggets of information Alison arranges like a PowerPoint presentation. In the closing chapter, Bennie hires young dad Alex to find 50 "parrots" (paid touts masquerading as fans) to create "authentic" word of mouth for a concert. This new kind of viral marketing is aimed at "pointers," toddlers now able to shop for themselves thanks to "kiddie handsets"; the preference of young adults for texting over talking is another creepily plausible element of Egan's near-future. Yet she is not a conventional dystopian novelist; distinctions between the virtual and the real may be breaking down in this world, but her characters have recognizable emotions and convictions, which is why their compromises and uncertainties continue to move us. Another ambitious change of pace from talented and visionary Egan, who reinvents the novel for the 21st century while affirming its historic values. Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions   1. A Visit from the Goon Squad shifts among various perspectives, voices, and time periods, and in one striking chapter (pp. 176–251), departs from conventional narrative entirely. What does the mixture of voices and narrative forms convey about the nature of experience and the creation of memories? Why has Egan arranged the stories out of chronological sequence?

2. In “A to B” Bosco unintentionally coins the phrase “Time’s a goon” (p. 96), used again by Bennie in “Pure Language” (p.269). What does Bosco mean? What does Bennie mean? What does the author mean?

3. “Found Objects” and “The Gold Cure” include accounts of Sasha’s and Bennie’s therapy sessions. Sasha picks and chooses what she shares: “She did this for Coz’s protection and her own—they were writing a story of redemption, of fresh beginnings and second chances” (p. 7). Bennie tries to adhere to a list of no-no’s his shrink has supplied (pp. 18-19). What do the tone and the content of these sections suggest about the purpose and value of therapy? Do they provide a helpful perspective on the characters?

4. Lou makes his first appearance in “Ask Me If I Care” (pp. 30–44) as an unprincipled, highly successful businessman; “Safari” (pp. 45–63) provides an intimate, disturbing look at the way he treats his children and lover; and “You (Plural)” (pp. 64–69) presents him as a sick old man. What do his relationships with Rhea and Mindy have in common? To what extent do both women accept (and perhaps encourage) his abhorrent behavior, and why to they do so? Do the conversations between Lou and Rolph, and Rolph’s interactions with his sister and Mindy, prepare you for the tragedy that occurs almost twenty years later? What emotions does Lou’s afternoon in “You (Plural)” with Jocelyn and Rhea provoke? Is he basically the same person he was in the earlier chapters?

5. Why does Scotty decide to get in touch with Bennie? What strategies do each of them employ as they spar with each other? How does the past, including Scotty’s dominant role in the band and his marriage to Alice, the girl both men pursued, affect the balance of power? In what ways is Scotty’s belief that “one key ingredient of so-called experience is the delusional faith that it is unique and special, that those included in it are privileged and those excluded from it are missing out” (p. 74) confirmed at the meeting? Is their reunion in “Pure Language” a continuation of the pattern set when they were teenagers, or does it reflect changes in their fortunes as well as in the world around them?

6. Sasha’s troubled background comes to light in “Good-bye, My Love” (p. 157). Do Ted’s recollections of her childhood explain Sasha’s behavior? To what extent is Sasha’s “catalog of woes” representative of her generation as a whole? How do Ted’s feelings about his career and wife color his reactions to Sasha? What does the flash-forward to “another day more than twenty years after this one” (p. 175) imply about the transitory moments in our lives?

7. Musicians, groupies, and entertainment executives and publicists figure prominently in A Visit from the Goon Squad. What do the careers and private lives of Bennie, Lou, and Scotty (“X’s and O’s”; “Pure Language”); Bosco and Stephanie (“A to B”); and Dolly (“Selling the General”) suggest about American culture and society over the decades? Discuss how specific details and cultural references (e.g., names of real people, bands, and venues) add authenticity to Egan’s fictional creations.

8. The chapters in this book can be read as stand-alone stories. How does this affect the reader’s engagement with individual characters and the events in their lives? Which characters or stories did you find the most compelling? By the end, does everything fall into place to form a satisfying storyline?

9. Read the quotation from Proust that Egan uses as an epigraph (p. vii). How do Proust’s observations apply to A Visit from the Goon Squad ? What impact do changing times and different contexts have on how the characters perceive and present themselves? Are the attitudes and actions of some characters more consistent than others, and if so, why?

10. In a recent interview Egan said, “I think anyone who’s writing satirically about the future of American life often looks prophetic.... I think we’re all part of the zeitgeist and we’re all listening to and absorbing the same things, consciously or unconsciously....” ( Brooklyn Daily Eagle , April 8, 2010). Considering current social trends and political realities, including fears of war and environmental devastation, evaluate the future Egan envisions in “Pure Language” and “Great Rock and Roll Pauses.”

11. What does “Pure Language” have to say about authenticity in a technological and digital age? Would you view the response to Bennie, Alex, and Lulu’s marketing venture differently if the musician had been someone other than Scotty Hausmann and his slide guitar? Stop/Go (from “The Gold Cure”), for example? ( Questions issued by publisher .)

top of page (summary)

LitLovers © 2024

A Visit from the Goon Squad – FAQs

What is the main theme of “A Visit from the Goon Squad”? The main theme of “A Visit from the Goon Squad” is the passage of time and its effects on individuals and their relationships. Jennifer Egan explores how time, or “the goon,” impacts the characters’ lives, careers, and connections, underscoring the inevitability of change and the fleeting nature of youth, success, and life itself.

Who are the central characters in “A Visit from the Goon Squad”? The central characters include Bennie Salazar, a music industry executive; Sasha, his kleptomaniac assistant; and a wide array of individuals connected to them either directly or tangentially, such as Lou Kline, Bennie’s mentor; Scotty Hausmann, a musician; and a host of others whose lives intersect with Bennie and Sasha’s in various ways.

How does “A Visit from the Goon Squad” structure its narrative? The narrative is structured non-linearly, consisting of interconnected stories that span different times and places. Each chapter can stand alone as a short story but together, they form a cohesive narrative that explores the characters’ pasts, presents, and futures, illustrating the interconnectedness of human experiences.

What role does music play in “A Visit from the Goon Squad”? Music plays a pivotal role, serving as a unifying thread that connects the characters and their stories. It symbolizes the passage of time, the evolution of culture, and the personal and professional identities of the characters, particularly those involved in the music industry. Music evokes memories and emotions, shaping the characters’ lives and the narrative itself.

How does Jennifer Egan explore the theme of technology in “A Visit from the Goon Squad”? Egan explores the theme of technology, particularly its impact on communication and human relationships, by depicting a future where digital life has transformed the way people interact. Through characters and scenarios, she questions the authenticity of digital connections and the potential loss of genuine human interaction, reflecting on the social and personal consequences of technological advancements.

What literary devices does Jennifer Egan use in “A Visit from the Goon Squad”? Egan employs a range of literary devices, including non-linear narrative, multiple perspectives, foreshadowing, symbolism, imagery, irony, metaphor, and experimental formats such as a chapter in PowerPoint. These devices enhance the novel’s thematic depth and narrative complexity, engaging readers in a multifaceted exploration of time, memory, and identity.

Is “A Visit from the Goon Squad” considered a novel or a collection of short stories? “A Visit from the Goon Squad” is often described as a novel-in-stories. It blurs the line between a novel and a collection of interconnected short stories, with each chapter focusing on different characters and moments in time but collectively forming a coherent narrative about the passage of time and its effects on a group of interrelated characters.

• C – The impact of technology on relationships
• B – A music industry executive
• A – Sasha
• C – Non-linear narrative
• C – Alison’s journal
• C – Through characters confronting their past mistakes
• B – Music
• A – Lou Kline
• D – It complicates human connections
• A – A music album

This quiz challenges your comprehension and retention of “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” touching on its themes, characters, narrative techniques, and unique structural elements.

Spot the Literary Device

Read the following paragraph from “A Visit from the Goon Squad” and identify the literary devices used. List your answers below, and then check them against the provided key.

“In the silence of the desert, where the stars twinkled brighter than they ever could in the smog-choked cities, Sasha felt the weight of her stolen wallet pressing against her thigh. It was as if each star was watching her, a million eyes witnessing the emptiness she tried to fill with objects that never belonged to her. The vast, open sky seemed to mock her attempts at concealment, her secrets laid bare to the universe.”

Your Answers:

• Imagery — The vivid description of the desert and the stars creates a vivid picture in the reader’s mind, enhancing the emotional and physical landscape of the scene.
• Symbolism — The stolen wallet symbolizes Sasha’s attempt to fill the emotional voids in her life, while the stars and open sky represent the universality of her isolation and guilt.
• Personification — The stars are described as watching Sasha, giving them human-like qualities that intensify the feeling of exposure and judgement she feels.

This exercise encourages you to delve deeper into the text, appreciating the nuanced ways Jennifer Egan uses literary devices to enrich her storytelling and develop her themes.

Jennifer Egan

News & Events

A Visit From the Goon Squad

• Reading Guide

Buy the book

Barnes & Noble

Randomhouse

Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page,  A Visit from the Goon Squad  is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.

Extreme End-of-Decade Love for A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD!!

Grateful and Thrilled that GOON SQUAD has somehow remained in the conversation after ten years: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY :  Best Book of Decade Time Magazine :  10 Best Books of Decade ELLE :  15 Books that Defined the 2010s Philadelphia Inquirer :  20 Best Books of the Decade VOX :  19 Best Books of Decade Literary Hub :  The Best 20 Novels of the Decade

Minneapolis Star-Tribune  and  St-Louis Post Dispatch, by  Ellen Akins, 4/1/22

“Each [chapter] has its own language, its own tropes and terms, which Egan somehow manages to use and skewer at the same time, while maintaining the mystery that makes each person unique and worth knowing.”

Read the Review

National Post (Canada), 1/10/12

“When finally I read the first pages, I was transfixed. For the next 36 hours I found all other activities bothersome because they took me away from this marvellous book.”

Pop Matters , 2/21/12

“I don’t like this so called high brow versus commercial dichotomy because I feel it isolates both camps in an area that I’m guessing no one particularly wants to be in.”

Read the Interview

Seattle Met , 1/26/12

“I just love not being attached to a machine…Maybe I lose something in terms of velocity, but I think I gain it in terms of freedom.”

BookTalk (UK) 1/10/12

“It feels like I am seizing upon details that suggest to me a life I don’t necessarily know, but is out there and has integrity. I could pursue it if I wanted to, but my goal is to keep my eye on this larger vision.”

Themes and Analysis

A visit from the goon squad, by jennifer egan.

In ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad,’ Jennifer Egan tries to explore the theme of time and how quickly it can flash before our eyes, often leaving us reminiscing about some good memories from the past or regretting having lived less than we planned to.

About the Book

Article written by Victor Onuorah

Degree in Journalism from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Throughout the book, readers will notice how time takes its toll on the majority of the leading characters – starting with the most frontal ones in Sasha Grady Blake and Bennie Salazar but also extending to Lou, Bosco, Jocelyn, Mindy, and the others. As the story progresses, more and more themes of aging, death, unrequited love, technology, and mental health, among others play out. This article will analyze the frontal themes from Jennifer Egan’s ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’ and discuss the key moments, writing style, figurative expressions, and symbols therein.

A Visit from the Goon Squad Themes

Time passage.

More than just a theme but also a sort of character, time is arguably the biggest villain out to hunt all the characters in Jennifer Egan’s ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad .’ From Sasha to Bennie – stretching down across to Scotty, Jocelyn, and all the other characters, the readers will find these characters, at one point or the other, lashing out and venting their frustrations on either the fact that time came flying past their hay days too quickly, or that it took a complete detour on them. 

Mental Health 

The issue of mental health among the youth is another vital thematic focus of Jennifer Egan her book, ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad. ’ These issues seem to come as a direct or indirect consequence of the traumas of the time theme. 

Nearly all the characters battle with mental health issues in their own time. Sasha struggles with kleptomania – while Bennie battles over impotence, loss of confidence, and self-esteem. Some – like Jocelyn – suffer devastating heartbeats, while others like Rob become self-destructive and lose their lives as a result.  

Aging and Death 

Aging, and eventually death, is the reason ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’ characters have shared malice with the time character – as these themes are the strongest, most imposing, and most fearful instruments it has on humans. After wasting a significant part of her youth living by the edge as a punk rocker, she comes to the realization that she hasn’t really achieved any meaningful thing in her life, and age is not on her side. 

Once this happens, she begins planning the remainder of her life for the better, first by going back to school, then seeing a therapist, and so on. A similar thing happens with all the other characters.

Infatuation, Love, and Unrequited Love 

Incidental themes from the novel, these trios are typical for every book, film, or work of art that focuses on young adults. ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’ isn’t different, as there’s no shortage of drama on these three fronts. 

In the first three chapters, we see how Bennie and his clique are caught up in a bizarre love (or infatuation?) circle. Rhea wants Bennie, who wants Alice, who wants Scotty wants Jocelyn, who wants Lou. None seems to be loving another who loves them back, and this unrequited love, and hits devastatingly more on the character Jocelyn (and a bit on Rhea), who becomes miserable over Lou’s games. Thankfully she realizes later and attempts to fix her life. 

New Media Technology 

Technology, particularly social media, is at the center of things in ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad .’ This is written all over Part B, chapter 13 of the book, when Alex and Lulu work with Bennie to promote Scotty as a music brand to the world, and people actually bought it even with they not having prior knowledge of Scotty’s work or personality.  

The Music Industry 

The entire narrative of ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’ is built around the music industry. All the characters know or have something to do with someone who knows about music, more specifically, punk rock music. As kids from the 70s, Bennie and his friends vibe to the trendy punk rock music of the era. However, for Bennie, it becomes much more than just a vibe but a passion; that’s why unlike the others, he pursues it as a career – learning everything about it: the best, the production, the music. 

While the whole plot revolves around this genre of music, Bennie and his mentor Lou Kline seem to be the only two people who run a successful business out of it, selling the talents of people like Scotty and Bosco. 

Key Moments in A Visit from the Goon Squad

• Sasha visits her therapist and recalls stealing a woman’s purse – and later – Alex’s wallet. 
• Bennie goes to watch his band’s indoor performance – accompanied by Sasha and his son Christopher. 
• It’s the 1970s, seventeen-year-olds Rhea and Jocelyn convince Lou to come to watch Bennie and his band – ‘The Flaming Dildos‘ – perform. 
• Lou goes on a vacation on safari – accompanied by his family and girlfriend Mindy. 
• Many years later, Lou is old, sick, and dying and is visited by old friends Rhea and Jocelyn (now forty-three-year-olds). 
• Scott, who is leading a reclusive life as a lowlife janitor after his divorce and hiatus from music, visits old friend Bennie.
• Bennie moves to the affluent Crandale neighborhood with his wife, Stephanie, but they struggle to fit in.
• PR guru Dolly Peale, after her fall from fame, tries to rejuvenate her career by selling the genocidal General. 
• Stephanie’s brother Jules Jones publishes his magazine piece about the assault incident with Kitty Jackson.
• Rob, Sasha and Drew’s friend drowns in the East River following a fit of mental health issues. 
• Sasha’s Uncle Ted Holland tracks Sasha to Italy and convinces her to come home. 
• Allison, Sasha’s daughter, shares her family experiences, her brother Lincoln’s struggle with autism, and her defeatist inclination. 
• Alex and Lulu help Bennie promote Scotty’s concert on social media. The show is a success, and they make history together. 

Style and Tone 

Jennifer Egan’s writing style goes in tandem with her postmodernism inclination . She typically utilizes nonlinear plot-style narrative to lend as many eyes to her readers so that her work goes beyond being a mere subjective read but also a multi-perspective experience.

Her book, ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad’ is a perfect depiction of just how composite the author’s writing can be. In this book made up of thirteen chapters – cut in parts A and B, like a phonograph disk, the readers will experience an abundant flush of backstories and foreshadowing, diverse points of view (in the first, second, and third person), and thirteen complete, single story knotted together at their tail end. 

In terms of tone and mood of ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ,’ there are over a dozen of them extractible, and this is because every story is told by different characters based on their distinct mental and emotional state. However, the common tone and mood found in the book are mostly satirical and include; expressions of regret, shame, disappointment, failure, and hope.

Figurative Languages

Egan’s use of figurative language in ‘ A Visit from the Goon Sqaud ’ is thorough and starts well within the book’s title – which is a metaphor for being a merciless bully and tormentor of man. 

Beyond the use of metaphors, there is also a wide usage of devices like satire, allusion, simile, personification, foreshadowing, and so on. 

Analysis of Symbols in A Visit from the Goon Squad

Symbolism plays a major in Jennifer Egan’s ‘ A Visit from the Goon Sqaud ’ and so can be found at various important events of the book. Some of the most prominent ones have been explained.

Music is the heart of Egan’s ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’ and it symbolizes an instrument of unity for all the characters across the different stories. Despite its changing nature, it still stands as the connector between Bennie and Sasha’s generation to that of Lulu and Alison’s. 

This instrument, as seen deployed at strategic intervals by Egan, connotes different meanings at different points in the book. Sometimes it presents a glimmer of hope for what is to come – like in Ted and Sasha’s scene in her Italy apartment, while other times, it represents an event filled with dread and terror – like in the chapter where Sasha’s friend Rob dies. 

Water’s symbolic depiction in ‘ A Visit from the Goon Sqaud ’ is unconventional – meaning that it is painted as harmful and destructive as opposed to the conventional literary connotation of being the source of life and tranquility. Rob drowns in the East River while swimming with Drew, Jocelyn visualizes drowning Lou when she and Rhea visit, and so on.

In ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ,’ pauses – especially in punk rock music – underpin the activities of time in relation to the characters throughout the book. From point to point, pauses progression of time in the life of these characters – detailing how much things have changed over time. 

What are the primary themes in ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’ by Jennifer Egan?

The story of ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’ communicates lessons through several vital themes: from themes of mental health to time passage, and technology use in the punk music industry. 

What figurative element is prevalent in ‘ Goon Squad ’?

Among a plethora of figurative elements used, the metaphor seems quite prevalent throughout the book and even exists in the book’s title to start with. 

What narrative technique does Egan use in ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad ’?

Egan uses multiple narrative styles for the book, ‘ A Visit from the Goon Squad. ’ Across the book’s thirteen chapters, the reader can find the first, second, and third-person perspectives. 

What does sunset symbolize in ‘ Goon Squad’ ?

Sunset in ‘ Goon Squad ’ is like a gate that opens up a little of what is to come; sometimes it’s hopeful and optimistic, and other times it’s hopeless and grim. 

About Victor Onuorah

Victor is as much a prolific writer as he is an avid reader. With a degree in Journalism, he goes around scouring literary storehouses and archives; picking up, dusting the dirt off, and leaving clean even the most crooked pieces of literature all with the skill of analysis.

Join Our Free Community

Engage in Literary Forums

Create and Join Groups

Create your own profile

See fewer ads

Save and bookmark articles

Discover literature and connect with others just like yourself!

Start the Conversation. Join the Chat.

There was a problem reporting this post.

Block Member?

Please confirm you want to block this member.

You will no longer be able to:

• See blocked member's posts
• Mention this member in posts
• Invite this member to groups

Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

Advertisement

Supported by

To Their Own Beat

• Share full article

By Will Blythe

• July 8, 2010

If you’re like me, you tend to regard plot summaries as a necessary boredom at best. They’re the flyover country between a reviewer’s landing strips of judgment, revealing almost nothing about the way a book actually works, almost nothing about why it succeeds or fails. If plot were the crucial measure, there’d be no difference between a story about the fish that got away and “Moby-Dick.” Reading such summaries (or writing them) is usually as beguiling as listening to some addled fan of “Lost” explain what happened on that botched rune of a show.

At least this is how I felt until I read Jennifer Egan’s remarkable new fiction, “A Visit From the Goon Squad.” Whether it is a novel or a collection of linked stories is a matter for the literary accountants to tote up in their ledgers of the inconsequential. What’s actually kind of fun for once, however, is attempting to summarize the action of a narrative that feels as freely flung as a bag of trash down a country gully. That’s because to do so captures Egan’s essential challenge to herself: How wide a circumference can she achieve in “A Visit From the Goon Squad” while still maintaining any sort of coherence and momentum? How loosely can she braid the skein of connections and still have something that hangs together?

There is a madness to her method. She hands off the narrative from one protagonist to another in a wild relay race that will end with the same characters with which it begins while dispensing with them for years at a time. The book starts with Sasha, a kleptomaniac, who works for Bennie, a record executive, who is a protégé of Lou who seduced Jocelyn who was loved by Scotty who played guitar for the Flaming Dildos, a San Francisco punk band for which Bennie once played bass guitar (none too well), before marrying Stephanie who is charged with trying to resurrect the career of the bloated rock legend Bosco who grants the sole rights for covering his farewell “suicide tour” to Stephanie’s brother, Jules Jones, a celebrity journalist who attempted to rape the starlet Kitty Jackson, who one day will be forced to take a job from Stephanie’s publicity mentor, La Doll, who is trying to soften the image of a genocidal tyrant because her career collapsed in spectacular fashion around the same time that Sasha in the years before going to work for Bennie was perhaps working as a prostitute in Naples where she was discovered by her Uncle Ted who was on holiday from a bad marriage, and while not much more will be heard from him, Sasha will come to New York and attend N.Y.U. and work for Bennie before disappearing into the desert to sculpture and raise a family with her college boyfriend, Drew, while Bennie, assisted by Alex, a former date of Sasha’s from whom she lifted a wallet, soldiers on in New York, producing musicians (including the rediscovered guitarist Scotty) as the artistic world changes around him with the vertiginous speed of Moore’s Law.

All of the above takes place in 13 chapters covering 40 years or so, ranging backward and forward across time, each composed from a different point of view, which means 13 different centers, 13 different peripheries. And yet everything hangs together, connected by a tone of simmering regret arising from love’s wreckage and time’s relentless devouring.

Is there anything Egan can’t do in this mash-up of forms? Write successfully in the second person? Check. Parody celebrity journalism and David Foster Wallace at the same time? Check. Make a moving narrative out of a PowerPoint presentation? Check. Write about a cokehead music producer who demands oral sex from his teenage girlfriend during her friends’ band’s performance? Check. Narrate another chapter from the perspective of the above girlfriend’s best friend, standing at the same performance on the other side of said producer? Check. Compose a futuristic vision of New York? Check.

Although shredded with loss, “A Visit From the Goon Squad” is often darkly, rippingly funny. Egan possesses a satirist’s eye and a romance novelist’s heart. Certainly the targets are plentiful in rock ’n’ roll and public relations, the twinned cultural industries around which the book coalesces during the period from the early ’80s to an imagined 2019 or so. No one is beyond the pale of her affection; no one is spared lampooning. Often she embraces and spears her subjects at the same time. Moved to ecstasy by the singing from a convent, Bennie signs the nuns to a record contract, only to blow the deal when, in a moment of boyish enthusiasm, he kisses the mother superior flush on the lips. This is one of many “shame memories” he is dredging up.

Egan’s depiction of Jules, the celebrity journalist, embodies her sophisticated sympathy. Such types are normally easy prey for fiction writers, cheap signifiers of corruption. But Egan understands that the manufacture of image in the modern world is as routine as the assembly of Model T’s in the old industrial economy. Which is to say it’s done by regular people like you and me, not villains but folks just trying to get by. Here she parodies not only the celebrity profile Jules writes but his effort to break away from a hackneyed genre and compose an original piece. It’s probably the only such profile where (a) the author is writing from jail and (b) he confesses to the attempted rape of his subject. Jules is stymied, however, when the starlet under scrutiny stabs him with a miniature Swiss Army knife as they roll around on the lawn in Central Park. “I think I’d have to call that the end of our lunch,” he concedes.

Likewise, Egan writes with pointed affection for the disgraced P.R. executive La Doll, who, desperately in need of work, starts freelancing for a genocidal general in the tropics. First she tries to soften his image by dressing him in teal blue caps with fuzzy flaps; then she enlists the actress victimized in Central Park, also down on her luck, in a scheme to fawn over the general and make him smile, revealing an unseen tender side. The actress embraces the general and then, showing more spine than expected, berates him in front of his men. “Do you eat them?” she asks the dictator about his victims. “Or do you leave them out so the vultures can do it?” Is this a photo-op or what?

In such a world, the children have to grow up fast. Where J. D. Salinger’s kids are all precocious little Zen masters, too innocent for the treacherous adult world, Egan’s are cold-eyed observers of their parents’ deficiencies, judging grown-ups with the severity of a kangaroo court. Of La Doll’s daughter, passing through military checkpoints, Egan writes: “She met the eyes of the machine-gun holders with the same even look she must have used to stare down the many girls who had tried in vain, over the years, to unseat her.”

For a book so relentlessly savvy about the digital age and its effect on how we experience time (speeded up, herky-jerky, instantaneous, but also full of unbearable gaps and pauses), “A Visit From the Goon Squad” is remarkably old-fashioned in its obsession with time’s effects on characters, that preoccupation of those doorstop 19th-century novels. Hanging over Egan’s book is a sense that human culture is changing at such warp speed that memory itself must adapt to keep pace.

The last chapter, which literalizes this sense perhaps a little too much, depicts a futuristic New York, in which babies signal their consumer choices with handsets and audiences are manipulated by selected enthusiasts known as “parrots.” Here Egan attempts to bring a centrifugal narrative full circle, which, given the entropic exhilarations on display, isn’t really in keeping with the story’s nature. But this is perhaps the only shortcoming (and a small one at that) in a fiction that appropriately for its musical obsessions, is otherwise pitch perfect.

A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD

By Jennifer Egan

274 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $25.95

Will Blythe is the author of “To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever.”

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

Salman Rushdie’s new memoir, “Knife,” addresses the attack that maimed him  in 2022, and pays tribute to his wife who saw him through .

Recent books by Allen Bratton, Daniel Lefferts and Garrard Conley depict gay Christian characters not usually seen in queer literature.

What can fiction tell us about the apocalypse? The writer Ayana Mathis finds unexpected hope in novels of crisis by Ling Ma, Jenny Offill and Jesmyn Ward .

At 28, the poet Tayi Tibble has been hailed as the funny, fresh and immensely skilled voice of a generation in Māori writing .

Amid a surge in book bans, the most challenged books in the United States in 2023 continued to focus on the experiences of L.G.B.T.Q. people or explore themes of race.

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

• Discussions
• Reading Challenge
• Kindle Notes & Highlights
• Favorite genres
• Friends’ recommendations
• Account settings

Irene's Reviews > A Visit from the Goon Squad

Reading Progress

Post a comment » comments showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new).

Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

82 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-11

Chapters 12-13

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Chapters 12-13 Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 12 summary: great rock and roll pauses.

It is sometime in the 2020s. Alison Blake, who narrates this chapter in the form of a graphic slide show journal entry, is Sasha’s daughter. Sasha is now married to Drew, and they have two children: Alison, aged twelve, and Lincoln, aged thirteen. They live in the desert. Lincoln is interested in the pauses in rock songs, sampling these pauses and playing them in loops to create his own music . Drew is a doctor, and everyone considers him a “good man” (248), although he is rarely at home with his family and has difficulty relating to Lincoln. Sasha likes to make sculptures out of “trash and our old toys” (242). Alison is curious about her mother’s past, because of a photo of her in a book about a rock and roll star, but Sasha doesn’t like to talk about that time in her life. Drew has told Alison about Rob, her mother’s best friend who drowned in college, and whom Drew tried to rescue but couldn’t.

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By Jennifer Egan

Manhattan Beach

Jennifer Egan

The Candy House

Featured Collections

American Literature

View Collection

National Book Critics Circle Award...

Psychological Fiction

Pulitzer Prize Fiction Awardees &...

Short Story Collections