<p>Has anyone else read Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad? I just finished it and am not sure what I think of it yet. It won the Pulitzer Prize.</p>
<p>I’m reading it now. Or, rather, I started it a couple of weeks ago and haven’t picked it up in a while. I like it when I’m reading it, but it doesn’t stay with me. I feel like it’s a little too scattered. I am not really fond of short stories because I feel like my timing when reading them is off, and this is really like a bunch of short stories. I do feel like it’s good writing. Just maybe not my thing.</p>
<p>As the book went on, it was taking longer and longer for me to figure out the connections, which did take me out of the story. Some of the connections were interesting, some seemed so random that they didn’t quite hold the story together for me.</p>
<p>Some chapters really captured me and others didn’t. Certainly a lot going on for one book. I wonder if her other books are like this as well?</p>
<p>I loved it. Thought it was inventive, very humane, at times funny and tragic at the same time. And the writing as smooth as butter. Loved how she executed the concept of meeting these characters at crucial moments, and revisiting them decades later. At times, when I didn’t see a connection between the characters right away, it still didn’t matter, because each story was so compelling in its own way. Kind of like an ever-changing kaleidescope.</p>
<p>Kate, the book is on my nightstand, but I won’t be getting to it until I read 400 more pages of Clash of Kings, so I’ll offer up this Slate podcast:</p>
<p>[Podtrac</a> Player](<a href=“Podtrac Player”>Podtrac Player)</p>
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<p>That’s a good way to look at the book.</p>
<p>Thank you for the link, MommaJ</p>