The weekly post
The one with the experimental, genre-bending novel
Hi friends, it is a joy to be back with a traditional “weekly post” after a few of the longer, more compilation-style guides. I have loved hearing from so many of you on both the post-election and holiday gift guides and am grateful for your feedback on the books that made the lists. Please continue to send your own recommendations, and I am so curious to hear what books you give and receive this holiday season!
This time of year is always when I hunker down with a longer read that requires a bit more concentration and focus, and this year is no different. For years, I reread A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, a detail-intensive read that always left me with a new hidden message or long overdue revelation. Then, last year, I spent my winter break with Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and I’ve spent much of this year recommending it to various friends, coworkers, and book clubs, grateful for the beautiful storytelling. Now this year, I’ve spent the past few weeks with Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, a heartbreaking debut novel. While I’m still working on the full review - there’s a lot in this book to process and unpack - I couldn’t help but draw comparisons across Owen Meany, Demon Copperhead, and now Shuggie Bain, and feeling grateful to spend the colder, cozier days with their stories.
This week, I am excited to share a full review for A Visit from the Goon Squad, a book that has been recommended to me by many and recently gifted to me by a very dear colleague. This book was a total change of pace from Shuggie and requires an open mind to its storytelling approach. Goon Squad grabbed my attention early on, the true definition of “a quick read,” and it’s generated a real excitement for the rest of my end-of-year selections.
Wherever you are, however you’re spending this holiday season, I hope you’ve got a great book and that you’re taking plenty of care. It’s been such a joy to be in community around books with you this year.
Currently Reading
RODHAM by Curtis Sittenfeld. Having only just begun this novel from the author of Romantic Comedy, I am already completely engrossed and on board with this very cool premise. Rodham offers a reimagined history of what would have happened if Hillary Rodham had turned down Bill Clinton’s proposals (yes, there were multiple), and after the year in politics we’ve had, I am more than ready to keep women and their stories at center stage.
Recent Recommendation
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan (5 stars). Now, I will admit that I may be rounding up to five stars on the pretense that this novel is unlike anything else I have read in recent memory, and I fully recognize that this is not going to be a book for everyone (no book is). That said, A Visit from the Goon Squad is an absolutely fascinating feat of storytelling and one that will stick with me for a while.
A Pulitzer Prize winner and National Book Award finalist, A Visit from the Goon Squad tells the story of Bennie Salazar, a former punk rocker and current aging record executive, and Sasha, his assistant who keeps her cards close. Though telling their stories is perhaps somewhat overstated: readers learn about Bennie and Sasha almost through the periphery, through a series of stories, mishaps, adventures, and tragedies of other characters. Over the course of this novel, we meet Scottie, a former bandmate of Bennie who now attempts to live off the grid and denies ever thinking about what could have been; Alex, a man on a first date with Sasha with his own musical aspirations; Dolly, a now has-been PR executive who is desperate to claw her way back to relevance, though remarkably more desperate to reconnect with her young daughter, Lulu; Ted, Sasha’s uncle who finds her in her “living abroad” phase; and Stephanie, Bennie’s first wife who struggles to understand how to make a life for herself, Bennie, and their son Chris in an affluent town totally lacking in diversity.
Admittedly, this method of storytelling initially threw me off. Based on the first two chapters - first from Sasha’s perspective, then from Bennie’s - I expected that this would be a novel that would alternate between the two main characters, and eventually we would understand how their stories more closely intertwine. Instead, this novel functions almost as a series of short stories, with each seemingly-side character having a moment in the driver’s seat. After brushing off the initial disorientation, I found myself completely enveloped in the story. How would these characters point back to Bennie or Sasha? What hidden piece of history would be revealed? How is it that Dolly somehow connects back to Stephanie, or Scottie back to Lulu? And while so much of my interest focused on completing the web around Bennie and Sasha, I felt a sincere tenderness towards these other characters as well, wanting to learn their own individual stories and aspirations.
As we meet new characters, Jennifer Egan also experiments with different formats, perspectives, and avenues to tell their stories (the most mentioned on Goodreads and avant-garde of these formats is the chapter entirely told through PowerPoint slides). In fact, the word perhaps most fitting for this novel is “experimental”. Egan deploys first, second, and third person perspective throughout the course of this book, writes one story as a long-form, Vanity Fair-style article, and reimagines what future technologies will look like through the use of new texting styles and abbreviations. While this type of genre-bending storytelling could so easily come off as a gimmick or distraction (and again, will not be for everyone), with Egan’s expert execution, it instead helped to develop each of the characters in unique, authentic, and altogether unexpected ways.
At its core, A Visit from the Goon Squad is an earnest, sometimes aching look at what it means to grow older. This is a collection of characters who are not always the most likable, with stories that are often left ambiguous, each of them struggling to close the distance between what they imagined life would look like, where they currently are, and where they could possibly be headed. There are moments of hope and clarity mixed within the small missteps and unalterable mistakes, and despite relating on a personal level to almost none of the characters, these stories contain a familiarity and warmth that left me rooting for this cast, well beyond the final page.
Recommend for… fans of Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney, and connoisseurs of 1980s punk rock
Up Next
EAT THE DOCUMENT by Dana Spiotta, THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah, and I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman. I am feeling very fortunate to have received so many incredible book selections over the past couple of weeks and looking forward to diving into each of these new-to-me stories and sharing full reviews with you soon.
Three Words
Cozy reading days.